The Toronto Blue Jays have been aggressive this offseason and likely won’t change their strategy after missing out on Juan Soto. They could pivot to a different slugging outfielder.
While listing players the Blue Jays should sign, FanSided’s Chris Landers urged the team to sign Baltimore Orioles star Anthony Santander.
“Santander isn’t in Soto’s class as a hitter (for starters, he hasn’t posted an OBP over .325 in his Major League career), but he does check three very important boxes: He’s a corner outfielder, he hits left-handed and he hits for a ton of power, slugging 105 homers over the past three seasons,” wrote Landers. “The Jays are desperate for a lefty option in the middle of the lineup, and they’re desperate for some more pop after ranking 26th in homers as a team in 2024.”
Spotrac projects Santander to sign a five-year, $88 million deal in free agency. He is nowhere near the prize as Soto, but he is a great player and at a fraction of the cost. He was one of the handful of players to hit 40-plus home runs last season. The switch-hitting outfielder hit 32 home runs from the left side of the dish.
He was an All-Star for the first time in his career last season and won his first Silver Slugger as well. He has played eight seasons with the Orioles and has familiarity hitting in Toronto. He has six home runs in 27 games at the Rogers Center. All six of those home runs came in the last two seasons. He had a .935 OPS at the Rogers Center in that timeframe.
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