Ervin Santana is a professional baseball pitcher from the Dominican Republic. He currently plays for Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Besides Minnesota Twins, he has played for Major League Baseball teams such as Los Angels of Anaheim, Kansas City, and Atlanta Braves. Santana represented his national team at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Ervin Santana was born on 12th December 1982 as Ervin Ramon Santana. He was born to his father, Jose Ramon Santana, and mother, Consuelo Santana and grew up with his sister and older brother, Cristian. He was raised playing baseball and basketball, he quit basketball to focus on baseball.
Santana signed a 4-year contract with Minnesota Twins in 2015 agreeing on the average annual salary of $13,500,000. In his first season with the club, he earned $7,598,360. He did not receive the total salary as he was fine $5.9 million.
He currently receives the annual salary of $13,750,000 including $55,000,000 guaranteed. In 2016, Santana's salary was estimated to be around $13.5 million.
| Year | Salary | Signing Bonus | Total Cash |
| 2000 | - | $700,000 | $700,000 |
| 2005 | $316,000 | - | $316,000 |
| 2006 | $350,000 | - | $350,000 |
| 2007 | $425,000 | - | $425,000 |
| 2008 | $420,000 | - | $420,000 |
| 2009 | $3,800,000 | - | $3,800,000 |
| 2010 | $6,000,000 | - | $6,000,000 |
| 2011 | $8,000,000 | - | $8,000,000 |
| 2012 | $11,200,000 | - | $11,200,000 |
| 2013 | $13,000,000 | - | $13,000,000 |
| 2014 | $14,100,000 | - | $14,100,000 |
| 2015 | $7,598,360 | - | $7,598,360 |
| 2016 | $13,500,000 | - | $13,500,000 |
| 2017 | $13,500,000 | - | $13,500,000 |
| 2018 | $13,500,000 | - | $13,500,000 |
| Total | $105,709,360 | $700,000 | $106,434,360 |
Santana has made the total career earnings of about $106 million over the course of his playing career.
His net worth in 2018 is around $8 million.
He was fined $5.9 million due to the violating the MLB PED policy after testing positive for Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing drug.
He owns a house in Chandler, Arizona. Besides, he sometimes resides in Clearwater, Florida.
On September 2, 2000, Santana was signed as an international free agent by Anaheim Angels. He later earned a promotion after an injury to starting pitcher Kelvim Escobar.
He was selected to his first MLB All-Star game and made major league debut on 17th May 2005 opposite Cleveland Indians. Following, he finished his 2006 season, with a 16-8 record.
Afterward, Santana gave up a fifth-inning homer to Colorado Rockies' Matt Holliday at the 2008 MLB All-Star Game. Similarly, he ended the season as the career high 214 strikeouts. He turned down the $14.1 million offer by Royal and granted free agency on October 31, 2013.
In 2014, Braves signed with an American professional baseball team, Atlanta Braves and finished his career low 16 home runs in 196 innings.
Minnesota Twins signed him as a free agent on December 13, 2014, on a four-year contract, $54 million. He then suspended for 80 games for performing enhancing drug. He made his debut on July 5, 2015, against Kansas City Royals.
Santana was the first pitcher against his ex-team, Kansas City Royals on April 3, 2017. He was named as the 90th player in the lead in the Major Leagues with 5 complete games (3 shutouts). He became 7th for Cy Young Award on November 15, 2017.
In 2003, Ervin Ramon Santana changed his name to Ervin Santana to avoid the same name as pitching star Johan Santana. He later stated that “I just came up with Ervin… Ervin Santana that sounds good”.
Currently 35, he stands at height of 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs around 160 Ib.
Santana is married to his wife, Amy in 2009 with whom he has a son, Jonathan born on July 1, 2006, and a daughter, Sofia on October 8, 2010. His wife was born on 24th October 1983 as Amy Renee McMurtray.
