Plus I think most people would rather see us save that money and try to re-sign Shields. As many others have noted, Santana has a history of being inconsistent from year to year. Plus Shields is a fastball/changeup guy, might have more miles left on his arm... plus his bulldog mentality is a great example for the younger pitchers. He doesn't panic and fall apart under pressure situations.
Plus it'd be nice if he could be there if (knock on wood, lots of wood) guys like Zimmer and Ventura can make their way up in the next 2-3 years.
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