Johan Santana Signs Minor League Contract with Toronto

The Toronto Blue Jays have signed two time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana to a minor league deal in the latest chapter of the left hander’s comeback attempt. In his heyday, Santana was one of the top starters in the majors, first with Minnesota Twins and later with the New York Mets, but shoulder injuries derailed his career.

Santana, who turns 36 in March, was 20-6 with a 2.61 ERA and 265 strikeouts for the Twins in his first Cy Young winning season in 2004, and 19-6, a 2.77 ERA and 245 strikeouts in his other Cy Young season (2006) also with the Twins. Lifetime, Santana is 139-78 with a 3.20 ERA and 1988 strikeouts. He missed all of the 2011 season with injuries, and last pitched in the majors in 2012. Last season, he was in Baltimore’s minor league system but tore an Achilles tendon in June. Here he is in action back in August 2007 when he struck out 17 Texas Rangers:

Santana was putting up Hall of Fame numbers before hurting his shoulder, so we’ll see if he still has enough left to be a fourth or fifth starter in Toronto’s rotation.