The Blue Jays’ curiosity in Anthony Santander is well-known, with Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press even itemizing the Jays and Angels “because the frontrunners” to signal the All-Star outfielder in a report final week. Toronto has formalized its pursuit of Santander by making an official contract provide, based on KPRC’s Ari Alexander, although the scale and size of the provide isn’t recognized.
MLB Commerce Rumors ranked Santander ninth on our checklist of the offseason’s top 50 free agents and projected the longtime Orioles outfielder for a four-year, $80M deal. Santander and his reps on the Beverly Hills Sports activities Council have been trying to high that quantity, as Jon Heyman of the New York Put up reported final month that Santander is wanting for a five-year contract price at least $100M.
Given what number of different notable free brokers have landed larger offers than anticipated this winter, it isn’t shocking that Santander is aiming excessive, and he may need some leverage since so many different large bats have already signed elsewhere. Past the Blue Jays and Angels, the Tigers, Crimson Sox and Yankees have additionally been publicly linked to Santander, and one other membership or two is likely to be lurking to see how his market develops.
One group that doesn’t look like within the operating for Santander is Houston, as Alexander notes that the Astros are “not possible” to dole out the kind of contract that will be sure that the group stays over the luxurious tax threshold. RosterResource’s current estimate of a $244M tax quantity for the Astros already places them over the $241M threshold, and there was hypothesis that Houston would possibly look to maneuver a contract to duck beneath the road and reset its tax standing. As a result of the Astros have been tax payors in 2024, in addition they have to surrender two 2025 draft picks and $1M in worldwide bonus pool cash for signing any free agent that rejects a qualifying provide. Houston already paid these further penalties to signal Christian Walker.
Including a robust switch-hitter like Santander would cowl a number of wants for the Jays, whose largely right-handed hitting lineup completed twenty sixth within the majors final yr in house runs. Placing Santander behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (who contributed 30 of the Jays’ 156 homers in 2024) within the lineup would give Guerrero some priceless safety, and there’s a ready-made defensive place for Santander in left discipline. Because the Blue Jays don’t have a set designated hitter, Santander may get an excellent chunk of at-bats from the DH spot, which additionally works since Santander’s outfield protection is common at greatest.
It has been a reasonably quiet offseason for the Blue Jays, although not for lack of effort, because the group has been linked to virtually each main free agent available on the market. Toronto made aggressive bids for each the highest hitter (Juan Soto) and pitcher (Corbin Burnes) accessible, and reports indicated that the Jays could have outbid the Diamondbacks’ $210M contract with Burnes, however the right-hander took much less cash to pitch nearer to his house in Arizona. For all the Jays’ free agent dealings, their solely noteworthy deal has been a two-year pact with outdated good friend Yimi Garcia. Toronto’s different large offseason transfer thus far was a trade with the Guardians that introduced second baseman Andres Gimenez and reliever Nick Sandlin into the fold. Nonetheless, Gimenez’s subpar hitting numbers over the past two seasons provide no promise that he’ll assist the Blue Jays’ lackluster offense.
Signing Santander would not less than quiet the narrative that the Jays can’t land high free brokers, even when the warmth on GM Ross Atkins and group president Mark Shapiro received’t let up until the Blue Jays flip issues round on the sector in 2025. Arguably, no group in baseball faces as a lot short-term stress because the Jays since Guerrero and Bo Bichette are each free brokers subsequent winter, and there isn’t any indication that the membership is making any headway in extension talks. Bringing in Santander on a long-term deal might be considered as a transfer to lock an enormous bat into the lineup even when Guerrero does depart, just like how the Gimenez commerce might be interpreted as a transfer to shore up the shortstop place if Bichette departs.
