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, in accordance with KPRC’s Ari Alexander, although the dimensions and size of the supply isn’t recognized.
MLB Commerce Rumors ranked Santander ninth on our record 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 seeking to prime that quantity, as Jon Heyman of the New York Put up reported final month that Santander is trying for a five-year contract value at least $100M.
Given what number of different notable free brokers have landed greater offers than anticipated this winter, it isn’t stunning that Santander is aiming excessive, and he may need some leverage since so many different massive 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 one other membership or two may be lurking to see how his market develops.
One crew that doesn’t seem like within the operating for Santander is Houston, as Alexander notes that the Astros are “impossible” to dole out the kind of contract that may be certain that the crew 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 may look to maneuver a contract 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 $1M in worldwide bonus pool cash for signing any free agent that rejects a qualifying supply. 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 12 months in residence 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 subject. For the reason that 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 fairly quiet offseason for the Blue Jays, although not for lack of effort, because the crew 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) obtainable, and reports indicated that the Jays might have outbid the Diamondbacks’ $210M contract with Burnes, however the right-hander took much less cash to pitch nearer to his residence in Arizona. For all the Jays’ free agent dealings, their solely noteworthy deal has been a two-year pact with outdated pal Yimi Garcia. Toronto’s different massive 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 supply no promise that he’ll assist the Blue Jays’ lackluster offense.
Signing Santander would at the least quiet the narrative that the Jays can’t land prime free brokers, even when the warmth on GM Ross Atkins and crew president Mark Shapiro gained’t let up except the Blue Jays flip issues round on the sphere in 2025. Arguably, no crew 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 could possibly be considered as a transfer to lock an enormous bat into the lineup even when Guerrero does go away, just like how the Gimenez commerce could possibly be interpreted as a transfer to shore up the shortstop place if Bichette departs.
