One of the top free-agent sluggers is heading to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays and outfielder Anthony Santander have agreed to a contract, reports MLB.com. The contract terms are unknown and the team has not yet confirmed the signing.
Santander, 30, slugged a career-high 44 home runs in 2024, the third most in baseball behind Aaron Judge (58) and Shohei 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 Juan Soto, including the Blue Jays.
CBS Sports will have more on this story shortly.
