Pirates Explain Reasoning for Dennis Santana DFA
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have made moves to fix their bullpen, and one of them came at the expense of one of their veterans.
The Pirates designated right-handed relief pitcher Dennis Santana for assignment on July 23, as they traded for San Diego Padres right-handed pitcher Ron Marinaccio and put him on the 26-man roster and 40-man roster.
Santana lost his spot on the team after three months of poor pitching, which came after he was the best relief pitcher on the team in early 2026 and throughout most of 2025.
It wasn't an easy move for the Pirates, but showed that they will make tough decisions on their bullpen if needed.
Pirates GM/Manager Talk Santana DFA
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington addressed DFA'ing Santana on The Pirates Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan.
Cherington said that while they care about Santana, they didn't have more opportunities to give Santana for him to figure it out.
“Really that’s just about running out of time, candidly," Cherington said. "Dennis did a lot of good things for the Pirates, love him personally, just couldn’t get on track, this year, from a performance standpoint and at some point we felt like we ran out of time with it. We’ve got an obligation to try and make it better. We’ve got to keep making moves to make it better.”
Pirates manager Don Kelly also had kind things to say about Santana ahead of the series vs. the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park last weekend, but that the entire season body of work and him not able to find his form again led to his DFA.
“I think it was just the bulk," Kelly said. "I think the world of Dennis as a human and as a pitcher and what he’s meant the last couple of years. This year, unfortunately, just couldn’t get it back on track. Wish him the best going forward, he’s such a great guy, great teammate. Had some really huge seasons for us in a Pirates uniform and just struggled to help him get back on track this year.”
Remembering Santana's Tenure With Pirates
The Pirates added Santana off of waivers on June 11, 2024 and it immediately paid off, as he became one of the club's best bullpen arms.
Santana posted a 2.44 ERA over 39 appearances and 44.1 innings pitched, with 50 strikeouts to 11 walks, .192 BAA and a 0.92 WHIP after joining the Pirates.
This continued into 2025, as Santana was the Pirates' best reliever, posting a 2.18 ERA over 70 outings and 70.1 innings pitched, 60 strikeouts to 17 walks, a .179 BAA and a 0.87 WHIP.
Santana came into this season as one of the high leverage pitchers, working as a closer and set-up man with left-handed pitcher Gregory Soto.
He did well early on, with a 0.69 ERA over his first 13 appearances and 13.0 innings pitched, with a .116 BAA and a 0.85 WHIP.
Santana then blew a save against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on April 27, giving up two solo home runs and a two-run RBI double in the 4-2 defeat.
It never got much better after that, as he posted a 8.48 ERA over 31 appearances and 28.2 innings pitched, with 27 earned runs and eight home runs allowed.
Santana will surely get a shot with another team after clearing waivers and electing free agency, but his time with the Pirates came to quite the disappointing end.
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.