Could Santana win a Gold Glove? He’s eyeing it

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Carlos Santana says that he doesn’t feel like he’s 38 years old, and that’s a testament to how well he takes care of his body, more than anything. After a pause, he says he feels more like he’s 33 or 34, and it’s hard to blame him considering how well he has played for the Twins after signing a one-year deal last offseason.

But he’s packed a lot of baseball accolades into the 15-year career that has brought him to this age-38 season -- more than 2,000 games played, more than 1,000 RBIs, and, most recently, homers at all 30 active ballparks, which helped him join Manny Machado and Giancarlo Stanton as the only active players to have accomplished that latter feat.

There’s one feat, though, that would mean a lot to Santana that he somehow still hasn’t checked off as part of that decorated career, and he brings it up to Pablo López on the bench frequently: He wants to win a Gold Glove Award.

“He tells me quite often that one of his goals -- he's got such a good, long career, but he wants to win a Gold Glove,” López said. “For the last [several] years, he's been a really good defender. I think everyone is aware and knows that. But he makes those things look so easy.”

“There's a couple of team priorities,” Santana said. “But this is one where I want that this year. That's why -- you know, I try to push every day, work hard every day, and see what's going on. I try to do what's best for me, but if not, I'm happy for that and say thanks to God for that.”

By the eye test, López’s assessment definitely checks out -- and that’s something manager Rocco Baldelli pointed out after a July 26 game during which Santana, among other things, made a diving stop at first base for an out, made a split-second, unorthodox decision to turn a tricky unassisted double play by initially going back to step on first base, and made a strong throw home for an out on a grounder.

“They should make a video about what he did at first base today,” Baldelli said after that game. “You could tell a whole 30 minutes to an hour-long story about those plays.”

The numbers also tell a similar story: Santana has been worth 11 Outs Above Average this season on defense, per Statcast -- Carlos Correa nailed this exactly off the top of his head, by the way -- putting Santana 11th among all qualified defenders in MLB, a hair above Christian Walker, the NL Gold Glove winner from last season to whom Santana finished second.

“He’s making everybody on our infield better every single day, with the way he picks every single throw that we throw in the dirt,” Correa said. “I think when you seriously consider his numbers, there’s nobody better in the American League, numbers-wise.”

It’s fitting that this topic comes up as the Twins finish up a series against the Cubs, because Santana spent those games standing in front of Cubs first-base coach Mike Napoli, to whom Santana gives the credit for all this success at first base.

Funnily enough, Napoli only remembers the work they did together at first base as Cleveland teammates in 2016 as a relationship borne of veteran respect and camaraderie as they shared a role between first base and DH, with Napoli as the new arrival to the team.

“We'd work together. We'd take early ground balls,” Napoli said. “I'd try to help him out to be better over there, and he did the same thing with me. We had a good relationship when I was over there. Every time we see each other, we're excited to see [one another].”

But Santana has consistently given Napoli far, far more credit than that, often attributing his instincts on scoops and double plays to Napoli’s help -- and look how far it’s brought him.

“He had more experience, more than me, and he had patience to explain everything,” Santana said. “He helped me, and I'm happy for me and what kind of player he helped me become.”