Blue Jays on Verge of Massive Coup: All-Star Free Agent Anthony Santander Nearing Deal with Toronto
The Toronto Blue Jays and free agent outfielder Anthony Santander discussed a potential deal on Friday, according to a report from Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith.
Talks “picked up” Friday morning, due to the supposed mutual interest, but they aren’t done yet.
Toronto has been tied to Santander for months, with a report surfacing back in November that their front office “badly coveted” the 30-year-old slugger. From there, Juan Soto, Teoscar Hernández and Tyler O’Neill all signed elsewhere, further narrowing the list of free agent corner outfielders that the Blue Jays could target.
Earlier this month, Hector Gomez reported that Toronto had offered Santander a four-year, $82 million contract. Recent rumors suggested that he would be willing to accept a shorter-term deal with higher average annual values, though.
Santander is coming off a career year with the Baltimore Orioles in which he made his first All-Star appearance, won a Silver Slugger and finished 14th in AL MVP voting. He hit .235 with 44 home runs, 102 RBI, an .814 OPS and a 2.9 WAR across 155 games in 2024.
The switch-hitter had been a staple in Baltimore’s lineup since June 2019, and he has missed just 26 total games since the start of 2022. Over the last six seasons, Santander has averaged 36 home runs, 34 doubles, 99 RBI and 2.7 WAR per 162 games.
Santander has done a lot of that damage against the Blue Jays, racking up 21 home runs, 15 doubles and 52 RBI with a .258 batting average and .845 OPS in 80 head-to-head matchups. In 27 career games at Rogers Centre, however, Santander is a .194 hitter with six home runs, 16 RBI and a .673 OPS.
Toronto has also been tied to third baseman Alex Bregman, the most accomplished bat still on the open market. The club likely won’t have room to sign them both, so locking down a deal with Santander would lessen the chances of Bregman joining the infield.
Instead, adding Santander to a group that already features Gold Glove winner Daulton Varsho and four-time All-Star George Springer would give the Blue Jays quite the outfield trio to work with. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Andrés Giménez and Alejandro Kirk will also be in Toronto’s Opening Day lineup, which could slug the team back to the postseason in 2025.
