Red Sox: 5 DFA candidates to clear a roster spot for Chris Sale

Red Sox utility man Danny Santana

Looking to cut bait with a player who hasn’t performed, hasn’t been able to stay on the field and has no long-term future with the franchise? We may have found our man in Danny Santana.

The 30-year-old joined the team in late May after rehabbing from various ailments and he landed back on the injured list with quad and groin injuries. It’s unclear when he’ll be able to return or if he can stay healthy if he is activated.

Not that the Red Sox are in a rush to get him back in the lineup. Santana has under-performed even the lowest of expectations, hitting a meager .171 with a .554 OPS. He made a strong first impression with home runs in each of his first two games but has added only two more in his 31 games since while producing a dismal .324 SLG.

Santana had a breakout year in 2019 when he hit .283 with 28 homers for the Texas Rangers. His value was torpedoed by an injury-plagued 2020 but the Red Sox took a chance on him with a low-risk minor league deal. It clearly hasn’t panned out. His contract does make him more expendable than the other options from a financial standpoint though.

Santana is a liability in the lineup and doesn’t offer enough in other areas. He has the versatility to handle any outfield spot and can at least be passable at some infield positions but the Red Sox have better options at each of them. He’s primarily played the outfield and first base with Boston but those positions are where Kyle Schwarber will spend most of his time once he’s activated, further mitigating the need for Santana.

The Red Sox have several underachievers who fans are ready to shove out the door. They only need to jettison one to make room for Sale. Santana seems to have the least to offer based on what we’ve seen in his limited healthy time on the roster so he may be the odd man out.