Guardians News and Notes: Blue Jays Find Solace in the Arms of Anthony Santander
News and Notes for Tuesday, January 21st, 2025
The Blue Jays shook their always-the-bridesmaid-never-the-bride aura and landed a commitment from Anthony Santander yesterday:
Free-agent outfielder Anthony Santander in agreement with Toronto Blue Jays on five-year contract for more than $90M, source tells @TheAthletic. Deal includes club option. First on agreement: @JonMorosi
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 20, 2025
So, the Jays will pay Santander, as pointed out to me by user pezzicle, with deferrals roughly $14 million per year for his 30-35 year-old seasons. Santander was pretty bad in right field last year, but he may be able to hack it in left for a few years. There is DH-only risk. He also declined by 13 runs against four-seam fastball from 2023-2024 which may be aberration or a canary in the coal mine of impending decline. I don't see how a deal of this length would have been a good investment for Cleveland, given their budget restraints and the risk involved.
If Cleveland wants to find an actual upgrade in right field, it'll have to come via a trade. But perhaps they believe in Jhonkensy Noel and Chase DeLauter. Or in Will Brennan and Johnathan Rodriguez. We shall see.
The MLB Hall of Fame Inductees will be announced tonight. Here's an update on the public balloting so far.
Ohio State won a national championship last night. I have the flu but I am very happy about that.