Free Agent Fit: Guardians Target Elite Power Hitter in Free Agency
The Cleveland Guardians head into the offseason with several questions that need to be answered, even fresh off an ALCS appearance to close out the 2024 season.
One of those unknowns is figuring out how they’ll anchor their offense with a legit big-league bat and power threat in the middle of their lineup. There is one option on the free agent market, which is Baltimore Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com ranked Santander as the sixth-best free agent and identified the Guardians as a fit to sign the 30-year-old slugger.
Santander has been a solid player for several years, but he picked the right time to have a career-best season. A first-time All-Star this year, Santander set career highs with 44 home runs and 102 RBIs, while his .814 OPS was his highest in a 162-game season. As much as he’s meant to the Orioles, Santander is likely to wind up elsewhere, as Baltimore has a wealth of young outfield talent and a number of clubs will seek a power-hitting corner outfielder,” wrote Feinsand.
Santander would be a dream addition for the Guardians, and it would also be a homecoming for the slugger Cleveland originally signed as an international free agent in 2011. He would bring plenty of contact and power to the Guardians’ lineup, which desperately needs more of it. Santander would also finally be the answer to Cleveland’s right field woes, which dominated their offseason questions for the last few seasons.
As with many power-hitters, Santander does bring a risk of swing-and-miss as he ranked in the 16 percentile of chase rate last season. However, that’s a risk Cleveland should be willing to take to get more pop in their lineup.
Santander won’t be cheap and will likely ask for a lucrative deal from any organization interested in him. But the Guardians are in a position where they should feel comfortable spending some money to solidify their position as legitimate World Series contenders.
