Carlos Santana saw his brief stay with the Diamondbacks end on Wednesday, more than two months after he last appeared in a game for Arizona.
The team activated the 40-year-old first baseman from the 60-day injured list and designated him for assignment.
Santana, who joined the Diamondbacks in February on a one-year, $2 million contract, sustained a right adductor strain on April 5. He went 2-for-24 with no RBIs in eight games this year.
He subsequently appeared in 15 rehab games for two Arizona minor league affiliates, going 6-for-48 (.125) with two homers and seven RBIs. In his absence, rookie LuJames Groover, Pavin Smith and Ildemaro Vargas have seen most of the action for the Diamondbacks at first.
“(Santana) got injured, never really got any footing here,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “He was getting some playing time, and all of a sudden he was gone. … He’s a great man. He’s been doing it for a very long time at a very high level. We felt like there was a need for him, but things have changed.”
Santana was an All-Star for Cleveland in 2019, and he won a Gold Glove with the Minnesota Twins in 2024. He has played for Cleveland (2010-17, 2019-20, 2025), the Philadelphia Phillies (2018), the Kansas City Royals (2021-22), the Seattle Mariners (2022), the Pittsburgh Pirates (2023), the Milwaukee Brewers (2023), Minnesota (2024), the Chicago Cubs (2025) and Arizona (2026).
In 2,212 games, Santana has a .240 batting average, a .351 on-base percentage, a .424 slugging percentage, 335 homers and 1,136 RBIs.
