Diamondbacks Officially Release Veteran Infielder

Arizona Diamondbacks Carlos Santana during spring training workouts at Salt River Fields on Feb. 13, 2026, Scottsdale. Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Diamondbacks Officially Release Veteran Infielder

Originally posted on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI
By Alex D'Agostino | Last updated Jun 27, 2026 1:16 PM ET

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The Arizona Diamondbacks have made their final decision with regard to one of their veteran offseason acquisitions.

According to the Diamondbacks' transaction logs, they have officially released former Gold Glove first baseman Carlos Santana, who had a short, unproductive stint with Arizona this year.

This move comes just two days following what was a somewhat-surprising, but still perhaps-overdue decision to DFA Santana in part of a three-player roster move. Considering Santana's reputation and lengthy, successful major league career, it seemed reasonable that a team might put a claim in.

But Santana cleared waivers, and instead of being sent outright to Triple-A Reno, he'll depart the Diamondbacks' organization, free to sign a deal with any other club that might be interested.

Diamondbacks release Carlos Santana

Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images

The Diamondbacks had a hole in their first base position following a 2025 season that saw them trade everyday first baseman Josh Naylor.

But instead of offering a contract to the ageless Paul Goldschmidt, who continues to put up numbers for the New York Yankees, the Diamondbacks zeroed in on Santana as an affordable veteran option, with the idea that the former Gold Glove winner would provide a defensive boost at first base.

But Santana only ever appeared in eight games for Arizona. His defense did not stand out, and his bat was entirely unproductive. The 40-year-old veteran hit just .083 over the course of just 26 plate appearances — recording two base hits in total. As a result, his OPS with the D-backs was a mere .279 in a small sample size.

On April 5, Santana suffered a groin injury that knocked him out of action for a considerable period of time. He began to get into some minor league rehab games, but suffered a setback that caused his timeline to widen.

He got back into rehab games at the beginning of June, but did not seem to be able to hit, even at that level. Santana put forward a .125/.276/.250 slash line in 58 plate appearances, between both the Arizona Complex League and Triple-A.

Diamondbacks still have first base problem

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Santana was ultimately not the solution the Diamondbacks needed at first base, but they also haven't found that solution. Arizona has the worst first base OPS in baseball at .572; they are the only team with a first base OPS below .600, with the New York Mets coming in 29th at .642.

Pavin Smith is hitting .154. Ildemaro Vargas has cooled off significantly from his historic start. Tim Tawa is back in the minor leagues alongside Jose Fernandez, while rookie LuJames Groover — despite recently hitting his first MLB home run — still has an OPS of just .588.

Simply put, the D-backs need a real solution at first base. Perhaps Groover or Fernandez can develop into that player, but the pool of players they have right now just aren't producing consistently.

This article first appeared on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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