White Sox agree to terms on Minor League contracts with Ervin Santana and Preston Tucker

February 23rd, 2019

The Chicago White Sox have agree to terms on Minor League contracts, including Spring Training invitations, with right-handed pitcher Ervin Santana and outfielder Preston Tucker.

Santana, 36, has gone 149-125 with a 4.06 ERA (1,087 ER/2,408.0 IP) and 1,921 strikeouts in 384 games (381 starts) over 14 major-league seasons with Los Angeles-AL (2005-12), Kansas City (2013), Atlanta (2014) and Minnesota (2015-18).

The two-time American League All-Star ranks among the active pitching leaders in shutouts (T4th, 11), starts (8th), IP (8th), complete games (8th, 21), victories (10th), quality starts (10th, 223) and strikeouts (11th). He has made 30-plus starts nine times in his career, thrown 200.0-plus IP six times and struck out 150-plus batters six times.

Santana, 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, was limited to five starts with Minnesota in 2018 due to an injured right middle finger, going 0-1 with a 8.03 ERA (22 ER/24.2 IP) and 16 strikeouts. He began the season on the disabled list, was reinstated on July 25 and placed on the disabled list again on August 19, missing the remainder of the campaign.

Santana was an AL All-Star in 2017 after going 16-8 with a 3.28 ERA (77 ER/211.1 IP) and 167 strikeouts and leading the major leagues with five complete games and three shutouts over 33 starts. He started the AL Wild Card game at Yankee Stadium.

Tucker, 28, is a career .222 (133-600) hitter with 23 home runs and 68 RBI in 243 games over parts of three major-league seasons with Houston (2015-16), Atlanta (2018) and Cincinnati (2018). He split last season between the Braves and Reds, batting .229 (38-166) with 11 doubles, six homers and 27 RBI in 97 games.

Santana will wear uniform No. 54, while Tucker will wear No. 32. Right-hander Randall Delgado will switch from No. 54 to No. 25.