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 supply, based on KPRC’s Ari Alexander, although the dimensions and size of the supply isn’t recognized.
MLB Commerce Rumors ranked Santander ninth on our checklist of the offseason’s prime 50 free brokers, and projected the longtime Orioles outfielder for a four-year, $80MM deal. Santander and his reps on the Beverly Hills Sports activities Council have been seeking to prime that quantity, as Jon Heyman of the New York Publish reported final month that Santander is on the lookout for a five-year contract value at the least $100MM.
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 huge bats have already signed elsewhere. Past the Blue Jays and Angels, the Tigers, Purple Sox, and Yankees have additionally been publicly linked to Santander, and it’s attainable one other membership or two may be lurking to see how his market develops.
One workforce that doesn’t look like within the working for Santander is Houston, as Alexander notes that the Astros are “not possible” to dole out the kind of contract that will mainly be sure that the workforce stays over the posh tax threshold. RosterResource’s present estimate of a $244MM tax quantity for the Astros already places them over the $241MM threshold, and there was hypothesis that Houston may look to maneuver a contract with the intention to duck below the road and reset its tax standing. As a result of the Astros had been tax payors in 2024, additionally they have to surrender two 2025 draft picks and $1MM in worldwide bonus pool cash for signing any free agent that rejects a qualifying supply, and Houston already paid these additional penalties to signal Christian Walker.
Including a strong 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 12 months 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 useful safety, and there’s a ready-made defensive place for Santander in left subject. Because the Blue Jays don’t have a set designated hitter, Santander may get a very good chunk of at-bats from the DH spot, which additionally works since Santander’s outfield protection is common at finest.
It has been a reasonably quiet offseason for the Blue Jays, although not for lack of effort, because the workforce has been linked to virtually each main free agent in the marketplace. Toronto made aggressive bids for each the highest hitter (Juan Soto) and pitcher (Corbin Burnes) out there, and reviews indicated that the Jays might have outbid the Diamondbacks’ $210MM contract with Burnes, however the right-hander took much less cash with the intention to pitch nearer to his house in Arizona. For the entire Jays’ free agent dealings, their solely noteworthy deal has been a two-year pact with outdated buddy Yimi Garcia. Toronto’s different huge offseason transfer up to now was a commerce with the Guardians that introduced second baseman Andres Gimenez and reliever Nick Sandlin into the fold, however Gimenez’s subpar hitting numbers over the past two seasons provides no promise that he’ll assist the Blue Jays’ lackluster offense.
Signing Santander would at the least quiet the narrative that the Jays are unable to land prime free brokers, even when the warmth on GM Ross Atkins and workforce president Mark Shapiro received’t actually let up except the Blue Jays flip issues round on the sphere in 2025. Arguably no workforce in baseball faces as a lot short-term strain 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 seen as a transfer to lock a giant bat into the lineup even when Guerrero does go away, much like how the Gimenez commerce might be interpreted as a transfer to shore up the shortstop place if Bichette departs.
