Mariners acquire Carlos Santana in trade from Royals

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The Royals traded first baseman Carlos Santana and nearly $4.3 million to the Seattle Mariners for right-handers Wyatt Mills and William Fleming on Monday, clearing the way for Kansas City to bring up hot prospect Vinnie Pasquantino.

Pasquantino was not in the starting lineup against Texas on Monday night because of tight travel schedules, but Royals general manager J.J. Picollo and manager Mike Matheny expect his big bat to be in the lineup regularly.

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Kansas City Royals' Carlos Santana hits a two-run single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics Sunday, June 26, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo.  (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

"When I was growing up, I had a dream of playing professional baseball. But I just enjoy playing the game," said Pasquantino, who was doing his laundry when he learned of his big league call-up. "I still do now, and I'm going to continue to try to do that as we move forward. I just love playing the game."

The Royals optioned Mills, a 27-year-old relief pitcher, to Triple-A Omaha while designating right-hander Ronald Bolaños for assignment. Fleming, a 23-year-old with starting potential, was assigned to Class-A Quad Cities.

"We’ve been talking with teams the last couple of weeks getting into the middle of June and starting to get into that trade deadline. Carlos’ name was coming up pretty frequently," Picollo said. "Over the weekend a couple of teams picked up their interest. Last night we thought we had a deal in place. It was just a matter of dotting T’s and crossing I’s today."

This is the second time Santana has been with Seattle, though the