Domingo Santana: Could he be a Fantasy Playoffs Hero?

The last two seasons for the Milwaukee Brewers have been rough to say the least. They saw their NL Central lead vanish before their eyes in 2014 and in 2015 they never seemed to get off the ground at all. But, after their semi fire sale in July, they got back a potential gem who can help owners in the playoffs this year, and for the foreseeable future.

What served as the main return for the Brewers in the Mike Fiers and Carlos Gomez deal with Houston, was power hitting outfielder Domingo Santana. The Brewers got other prospects as well, but none were as major league ready as Santana seems to be.

Santana was born in the Dominican Republic and signed with the Phillies when he was only 16 years old. He didn’t show much promise in his first four years in the minors, but he seemed to turn the corner in 2011 as evaluators started to take notice of his potential.

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Santana’s minor league breakout did not last too long with the Phillies, as he was actually part of Houston’s return when they traded Hunter Pence to Philadelphia. What makes it even more interesting, was that Santana would wind up basically being a throw in, as he wound up being the player to be named that the Astros wound up choosing.

The Astros definitely seemed to be onto something as Santana would methodically rise through the minor league ranks to the point where he became a major trade chip in this year’s trade discussions.

Santana now finds himself with the Brewers, where it seems as though he may have finally found a permanent home. With Gomez’s departure, the CF job is wide open for Santana to take and the Brewers are hoping he does just that.

The main reason that Santana has been catching the attention of so many scouts and evaluators is certainly his power. Santana has maintained pretty decent averages in the minors but his power development has really been a marvel to watch.

Over the last four years he has mashed 82 homers, with a career high of 23 in 2013. He has also averaged about 80 R.B.I. as well, giving him the look of a true run producer. I will concede that these numbers did come in the minors, but he has been able to sustain ample production even as he moved from A ball through AAA.

Santana also has his sheer size going for him as well, he stands in at 6’5 and 225 pounds, so the guy does not lack the physique. The Brewers were not expecting much out of Santana during his brief stint in the majors to close out 2015, but he has been able to reassure them that he should be a fixture of their plans going forward.

Over his 16 games with the Brewers this season he has amassed a, .288/5 HR/11 RBI line, a small sample size, but definitely something to take note of. Over the last 14 days especially, where he has been able to post a, .333/3 HR/8 RBI/1.069 OPS, stat line.

Any fantasy owners that are still scouring the waiver wire at this point, have their eyes on the winning it all. While you may be hesitant to alter your team, because it has gotten you this far, adding Santana could pay huge dividends.

He could offer very cheap power and run production, and all it will take if for owners to slide him into one of their OF or UTIL. spots. Santana will surely be a popular sleeper next year because of his raw potential, so why not ride the wave now and reap the rewards of him still being overlooked?