Santiago agreed Wednesday with the Tigers on a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to major-league spring training.
While he should get the token chance to compete for a spot in Detroit rotation that lacked dependable arms beyond Matthew Boyd and Spencer Turnbull in 2019, the 32-year-old is more realistically being evaluated for a spot on the Triple-A Toledo staff. Detroit added experienced starters in Ivan Nova and Zack Godley to the 40-man roster this offseason and also retained Jordan Zimmermann, Daniel Norris and Tyler Alexander, leaving Santiago on the outside looking in for the Opening Day roster. Santiago boasts experience in his own right with 139 career MLB starts, but he wasn't effective between stints with the White Sox and Mets in 2019, submitting a 6.68 ERA and 1.90 WHIP in 33.2 innings.