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16. Benito Santiago

Benito Santiago played for nine teams over his 20 years in the Majors, and this might make him seem like he was a journeyman.  That might be what he became, but when his career began in San Diego, he was considered by many to be the best young Catcher in Baseball.

The Puerto Rican was signed in 1982 and debuted for the Padres four years later, appearing in 17 Games, thus keeping his rookie eligibility for the following year.  That allowed Santiago, who took over as the starting Catcher, to win the Rookie of the Year, and he arguably had his best offensive season as a Padre.  Santiago batted .300 and 18 Home Runs and won the Silver Slugger, an award he repeated three more times with San Diego.  

Santiago was universally praised for his defense, and offensively, he never had less than 10 Home Runs in any of his seasons with the Padres.  An All-Star each year from 1989 to 1992, Santiago also won three straight Gold Gloves (1988-90) and finished in the top ten in Defensive bWAR three times.  

Following the 1992 Season, Santiago joined the expansion Florida Marlins, leaving them with 758 Hits, 85 Home Runs, and a Defensive bWAR of 8.9.

While Santiago was a popular figure in San Diego, it is hard to rank him any higher as he had a sub-three OBP with the Padres, and while he was praised for his defense, he was at times error-prone.

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