The Diamondbacks officially released veteran first baseman Carlos Santana, according to the MLB.com transaction log. That was expected after he was designated for assignment on Wednesday.

Santana signed a $2MM free agent deal leading up to Spring Training. A switch-hitter who is better from the right side, he signed to take a short side platoon job alongside Pavin Smith. Santana only played in eight games before suffering an adductor strain on April 5. He spent the next two and a half months on the injured list.

The D-Backs sent Santana on a rehab assignment on June 5. Position players can spend up to 20 days working back from an injury in the minors. The D-Backs would’ve needed to activate him on Thursday but instead opted to move on. Santana had hit .083 in 10 rehab games with Triple-A Reno and had a matching batting average over 26 big league plate appearances before the injury.

Santana is free to sign with any team if he intends to continue playing. The 40-year-old might be limited to minor league contracts. He’s still a quality defender but hit just .219/.308/.325 across 474 plate appearances between the Guardians and Cubs last year.

Smith missed a couple months with an elbow injury. He’s back now and playing first base against right-handed pitching. LuJames Groover got the start there against Cards lefty Matthew Liberatore on Wednesday. Utilityman Ildemaro Vargas has gotten the majority of the playing time on the season. Arizona first basemen have an MLB-worst .217/.261/.318 slash line. The D-Backs are a game above .500 at the halfway point and should look for an upgrade before the trade deadline.