Blue Jays’ players tell Ervin Santana to come to Toronto

Aug 30, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Ervin Santana (54) delivers a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, several players from the Toronto Blue Jays have been hard at work trying to convince free agent right-handed pitcher Ervin Santana to sign with Toronto.

In case you missed the excitement this weekend, things with Santana really began to heat up on Saturday when it was announced that Ervin had fired his agent and was looking to sign a one-year deal as soon as possible.

Shaun Doyle provided live updates for us all day on Saturday as Santana was originally expected to make his decision by 5pm that same day. However, not so shockingly, that deadline has passed and not much has changed at this exact moment, although Rosenthal suggests that the Atlanta Braves might decide to enter the bidding if they end up losing Kris Medlen for an extended period of time.

But back to the Blue Jays’ players – apparently they really, really want a pitcher. According to Rosenthal, the players made a poster that read “Come to Toronto” and sent the message to Santana via text message. R.A. Dickey also told reporters he would more than welcome the addition of Santana to the Jays (h/t Toronto Sun).

"“Any time you add a potential piece that’s got the pedigree of Ervin Santana, then you’re adding a valuable piece.”"

And in another article at the Sun, Bob Elliott writes about several Blue Jays who would support the signing of Santana including Jose Reyes (who called Santana a “friend”), Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and even the non-Dominican Adam Lind.

Will this pressure from the Blue Jays’ players work and help bring Ervin Santana to Toronto? Only time will tell.