Report: Guardians bring back Santana on 1-year, $12M deal

Carlos Santana just can't quit Cleveland.

The veteran first baseman agreed to a one-year, $12-million contract with the Guardians, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan.

His deal also contains $1 million worth of incentives, a source told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Completion of the agreement is pending a physical.

This will be Santana's third stint in Cleveland. The 38-year-old played for the organization from 2010-17, and again from 2019-2020. His 216 home runs with the club are tied for sixth in franchise history.

Santana spent last season with the Minnesota Twins. He'll presumably take over first base for the Guardians from Josh Naylor, who the Guardians traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Santana enjoyed a bit of a renaissance in Minnesota last campaign, hitting .238/.328/.420 with 23 homers and 71 RBIs over 150 games while winning his first career Gold Glove.

Over 15 big-league seasons, Santana is a lifetime .242/.354/.431 hitter with 324 home runs and 1,082 RBIs across 2,080 games with seven teams. The Dominican Republic native was an All-Star and Silver Slugger winner in 2019, and he also helped Cleveland to its most recent AL pennant in 2016.