AROUND THE HORN
■ Royals, Mariners: The Royals traded slugger Carlos Santana and nearly $4.3 million to the Mariners for right-handers Wyatt Mills and William Fleming on Monday, clearing the way for the Royals to bring up hot prospect Vinnie Pasquantino . The Royals optioned Mills, a 27-year-old veteran, to Triple-A Omaha while designating righthander Ronald Bolaños for assignment. Fleming was assigned to Class-A Quad Cities.
The Royals agreed to send $4,269,231 to the Mariners, leaving them to pay just $1.5 million of the remainder of Santana’s salary in the second year of a two-year, $17.5 million contract. After hitting 19 homers in 158 games for the Royals last season, and providing some veteran leadership to a team going through a long and difficult rebuild, the 36-year-old first baseman is hitting just .216 with four homers through 52 games this season.
This is the second time Santana has been with the Mariners, though the first stint lasted a mere 10 days. He was acquired along with J.P. Crawford from the Phillies for infielder Jean Segura, right-hander Juan Nicasio, and left-hander James Pazos on Dec. 3, 2018; the Mariners then traded him away as part of a three-team deal with the Guardians and Rays.
This time should be different as the 36-yearold gives the Mariners a useful switch-hitter and an option at first base with leading hitter Ty France on the injured list with an elbow injury. Santana has been the primary first baseman for the Royals and has been better at the plate over the past month with a .357 batting averaging and a 1.032 OPS in June. The Mariners also are receiving $4,269,231 from the Royals to offset Santana’s remaining contract, with $1.5 million paid by the Mariners. With the Royals last in the AL Central at 26-45 heading into Monday night’s game against the Rangers, and Santana nearing the end of his contract, it was prudent for the Royals to clear the way for Pasquantino to begin his big league career. The 24-year-old was hitting .280 with 18 homers at Omaha, and was among the Triple-A leaders in extrabase hits, runs, homers and slugging percentage.
■ Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty and OF Harrison Bader were placed on the injured list. Flaherty was placed on the 15-day IL with a right shoulder strain. He left Sunday’s start after throwing two scoreless innings. The 26-year-old missed the first 64 games of the season while recovering from shoulder surgery. He has made three starts and not pitched more than three innings in any one. Bader, a gold glove winner, was placed on the 10-day IL with planter fasciitis in his right foot. He’s been dealing with the injury since spring training.
■ Mets: RHP Tyler Megill will be out until at least mid-August, with the Mets moving him to the 60-day IL. The 26-year-old was put on the 15-day IL on June 17 because of a strained right shoulder, joining aces Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. The Mets said at the time Megill wouldn’t throw for four weeks. Earlier in the season, Megill missed four weeks with right biceps tendinitis and returned June 10. He’s 4-2 with a 5.01 ERA in nine starts this year.