One of the top free-agent sluggers is heading to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays and outfielder Anthony Santander have agreed to a five-year contract worth more than $90 million, CBS Sports HQ’s Jim Bowden confirmed Monday. There is also an option for a sixth year, per The Athletic.
For Toronto, this offseason has been more notable for the players they’ve failed to sign than the players they’ve acquired. The Blue Jays reportedly pursued Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Clay Holmes, Roki Sasaki, Juan Soto, and Gleyber Torres earlier this winter, and they all wound up elsewhere. And, of course, they pursued Shohei Ohtani last offseason, but did not get him.
In Santander, the Blue Jays finally found a free-agent hitter willing to take their money. He’ll join Gold Glove second baseman and trade pickup Andrés Giménez in a new-ish look lineup. Toronto also signed free agent relievers Yimi García and Jeff Hoffman to improve a bullpen that was among MLB’s worst in 2024. Chances are the a few more moves are on the way.
Santander, 30, slugged a career-high 44 home runs for the Orioles in 2024, the third most in baseball behind Aaron Judge (58) and Ohtani (54). Those 44 home runs came with a .308 on-base percentage and less than stellar defense, however, and that chilled Santander’s market a bit. Still, the switch-hitter will be paid handsomely the next few years.
Our R.J. Anderson ranked Santander the 15th-best free agent on the market this offseason. Here’s the write-up:
In addition to being living proof that there are still quality players to be unearthed in the Rule 5 draft, Santander became the first switch-hitter to homer 40 or more times in a season since Carlos Beltrán and Lance Berkman both did it in 2006. Santander isn’t a mindless slugger (not that there would be anything wrong with that); he’s adept at making above-average amounts of contact, allowing him to keep his strikeout rate underneath 20% despite what could be charitably described as an excitable approach. Unfortunately, Santander doesn’t bring much more to the table than his bat: he’s not a good defender or baserunner, meaning interested clubs will have to be confident that he can sustain his well-above-average offensive production well into his 30s.
Santander was viewed as a possible Plan B or at least Plan C for several teams that made a run at Soto, including the Blue Jays. He will fit their lineup well. Santander gives the Blue Jays a bona fide cleanup hitter to slot behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and he will also bring pop to a lineup that ranked 26th in home runs in 2025. Toronto badly needed power, and will get it with Santander.
The Blue Jays went 74-88 and missed the postseason last year. The AL is very watered down at the moment, however, so it won’t take too much for Toronto to make a run at a wild-card spot in 2025. They could use another starting pitcher (Max Scherzer is said to be of interest) and another reliever or two. There’s room to add someone like Alex Bregman to the infield as well.
Santander rejected the qualifying offer in November. The Baltimore Orioles, his former team, will receive a compensation draft pick after the first round. The Blue Jays stayed under the competitive balance tax threshold last year and will forfeit their second highest 2025 draft pick, and $500,000 million in 2026 international bonus money, to complete the Santander signing.
