For the second time this year, Carlos Santana and Jake Arrieta are involved in a bit of a verbal skirmish about clubhouse chemistry.
Santana responded via Twitter on Thursday night to Arrieta's recent comments to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"Well, the culture was better here this year without him. I can tell you that," Arrieta told the Inquirer last weekend. "... We had better guys in the clubhouse. That's it. A lot more veteran presence."
Santana followed up with this tweet:
🧐🧐🧐 night thoughts... pic.twitter.com/6Yt1PrT63l— Carlos Santana MLB⚾️ (@TheRealSlamtana) October 4, 2019
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The initial tiff was reported on earlier this year. It took place late last season when Santana was upset with the amount of video game playing in the clubhouse and smashed a TV.
"There is some untruth to the story, some things that were not portrayed correctly," Arrieta said in March of the ESPN piece quoting Santana. "I don't believe that guys were playing video games during the game. That's something that I would not allow and a majority of the guys on the team would not allow.
"There was a lot of video-game playing and I was a part of it, too, but well in advance of the game - and that was something that we bonded over. It brought us close together and it was something we had in common. It was fun. But as far as during the game, and I've talked to a bunch of our guys, I do not believe that was taking place."
Santana was traded by the Phillies along with J.P. Crawford to the Mariners last December for Jean Segura, Juan Nicasio and James Pazos. The Mariners traded Santana to the Indians, his original team, 10 days later. Santana went on to have the best season of his career, making his first All-Star team and setting career-highs in batting average (.281), on-base percentage (.397), slugging percentage (.515), home runs (34), RBI (93) and runs scored (110).
Arrieta's future is unclear. Can he come back from an elbow cleanup and be a serviceable No. 4 starter for the 2020 Phillies? He is due the final $20 million of his three-year, $75 million contract with the Phillies next season. Arrieta struggled with the injury, going 8-8 with a 4.64 ERA and 1.47 WHIP in 24 starts.
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