First baseman , who was selected by the Guardians in the Rule 5 Draft back in December, was returned to the Diamondbacks today, per a club announcement. Arizona is not required to add him to the 40-man roster. De Los Santos, 20, enjoyed a breakout season in 2022 at the age of 19, slashing an impre sive .306/.348/.499 in 126 games split between the Single-A, High-A, and Double-A levels that year. He mostly held his own in a return to the Double-A level last year, slashing 254/.297/.431 while crushing 20 home runs in just 481 trips to the plate. That performance was enough for De Los Santos to get plucked from the Diamondbacks Michael Jordan Jersey organization during the Rule 5 Draft by the Guardians, where he figured to compete for playing time with top first base prospect on a roster in desperate need of additional pop. The news comes as something of a surprise following the clubs decision to Manzardo to minor league camp earlier this week, which seemingly opened the door for De Los Santos to be the clubs Opening Day starter at first base. That hasnt come to pa s, however, as Cleveland clearly determined that De Los Santos would not make the clubs Opening Day roster and instead opted to send the 20-year-old back to his original organization. The move seems to leave slugger to take over first base duties on Opening Day. A career .270/.325/.439 hitter who posted a career-best 128 wRC+ last season, theres little question that the 26-year-old is up to the task. With that being said, Naylor appeared poised to be slotted into the clubs DH spot on a regular basis this season. That may still end up being the case a suming Mazardo makes his way to the majors later this year, but as things stand the club instead appears likely to rely on the likes of and at DH to open the season. As for De Los Santos, hell return to the Diamondbacks organization and likely begin the season in the upper minors. With veterans and slated for the lions share of playing time at first base and DH this year, its unclear if De Los Santos will have much of an opportunity to reach the majors this season. With that being said, both Walker and Pederson are set to hit free agency after the 2024 season, so a strong showing from De Los Santos in the upper minors this year could put him in line to impact the club as soon as 2025. Denzel Valentine Jersey