The Orioles have agreed to an $11.7MM deal with Anthony Santander to avoid arbitration, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). The outfielder is a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council.
Santander, 29, is coming off yet another solid season as a potent middle-of-the-order bat with the Orioles. The switch hitter slugged 28 home runs in 2023 while batting .257/.325/.472. That line translated to a wRC+ of 119, indicating he was 19% better than the league average hitter overall. His defense isn’t considered as strong as his offense but his glovework received better grades last year than it did in 2022.
This is his fourth arbitration season, as he was a Super Two player going into 2021. He and the O’s went to a hearing that year, with the club winning and paying him a salary of $2.1MM, as opposed to his filing number of $2.475MM. He then avoided arbitration in each subsequent campaign, earning $3.15MM in 2022 and $7.4MM last year before this year’s bump into eight-figure territory. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected a bump to $12.7MM, though Santander will come in a bit below that.
Due to the O’s avoiding notable free agent deals, Santander will remarkably be second on the club in terms of the salary the O’s are paying. Craig Kimbrel is at the top of he list, making a $12MM salary and he has a $1MM buyout on a 2025 option. James McCann is also set to make $12MM this year but the Mets are paying $8MM of that as part of the trade they made with the O’s just over a year ago.
Due to the club’s surplus of outfielders and position players in general, there has been some speculation the O’s would use that to line up a trade for some pitching. There’s still plenty of time for that to happen but nothing significant has happened thus far. That leaves Santander in the corner outfield/designated hitter mix alongside guys like Austin Hays, Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn, Sam Hilliard, Heston Kjerstad, Colton Cowser, Ryan McKenna and Kyle Stowers. Santander is slated to become a free agent after the 2024 season.
Tony Taters got himself paid!
Full million bucks under MLBTR’s projections though!
Two more HRs and he would have been paid like a 30 HR player. That 11.7 would have been 15 with just two better swings of the bat.
Different position but Christian Walker hit over 30 and had a slightly better slash line and got paid less than AS. Are their agents to blame?
Good question, C Yards Jeff.
Is Christian Walker a super 2?
So, in other words, Walker’s deal is the going rate and AS gets a bump because he’s a Super 2?
Probably. Santander is super 2 so that this is his 4th arbitration year.
Heston and Cowser might make some noise in 2024. O’s are loaded with more reinforcements coming.
Holliday and Mayo should both arrive in Baltimore by midseason as well.
Very exciting time to be an O’s fan 🙂
Someone has to be cleared out here unless the injury bug really bites. Not enough slots for these guys.
I’m surprised Joey Ortiz is still in the org. Thought he’d be a trade chip by now. Guess we’ll see what happens in the next month or so.
I agree. Hays, Mountcastle, and Urias should be all shopped pretty aggressively this offseason. If we could move one or two of them as part of a deal for some pitching (Trevor Rogers maybe?), that would be great.
Ortiz is slick at short. Potential for him to be a utility if his bat doesn’t come around?
I think Joey’s bat has already come around TBH.
He OPS’d .967 in 115 PAs at AAA in 2022 and .885 in just under 400 PAs in AAA in 2023. If that translates to something like a .750 OPS at the MLB level, with his excellent defense at SS, he’s like a 4 WAR player and firmly in the “top 10 MLB shortstops” discussion, and he’s even still a really good everyday SS option at like .700 or a bit below.
It always amuses me when fans of other teams (here and elsewhere) complain/criticize (sometimes quite loudly) and say they don’t want him when he’s included as an important piece of a hypothetical deal. It’s like, “oh no, you mean we have to keep him and just have a cheap ~GG caliber defensive utility IF to back up Gunnar, Holliday, and Mayo for a few years?”
I am literally 100% fine with that arrangement lol.
I stand corrected. With that, could the O’s be looking at Gunnar 3B, Ortiz SS and a Westburg at 2B? Mateo off the bench?
Because of the level of talent coming out of Baltimore it’s fascinating to watch how they set up said talent.
It’s honestly tough to say how it will shake out this year. Gunnar is locked into 1 spot everyday (SS or 3B) as long as he is healthy. After that, it gets pretty fluid- basically any of Westburg, Urias, Mateo, and Ortiz could plausibly be starting on the O’s roster or wearing a completely different uniform in April 2024.
Assuming no one is traded though, the OD alignment would likely be Westburg at 2B, Gunnar at SS, and Urias at 3B against righties and Westburg, Mateo, and Gunnar at 2B/SS/3B with Ortiz either as the utility IF or starting at AAA.
I think there’s a good chance that one of Westburg and Ortiz gets traded for a starter though, plus Holliday and Mayo are both going to have a shot at making the OD roster (supposedly, but I doubt it).
Also, Connor Norby is still a thing, so he’s going to have a shot at being a factor in the 2024 infield picture too.
Completely forgot about him for a second there lol.
Right? Norfolk was absolutely stacked last year. AA team was stacked which means AAA Norfolk will be strong again.
AL East beware.
Yeah, Norby doesn’t seem to get the respect he deserves (and I’m guilty of that too apparently lol), which is unfair because he’s a very good prospect in his own right, he just gets overshadowed by the big names like Holliday and Cowser.
Like, if Norby is the second or third piece in a package your team got for someone in trade from the O’s, then you probably got a pretty solid return.
Not yet. Have to have some veterans mixed in and need these right hand bats
At the bare minimum, we should absolutely trade one of Urias or Mateo to make room for Joey Ortiz in the infield mix if he is staying in Baltimore and not being traded himself. I feel like that is a no-brainer with both Holliday and Mayo on track to arrive in Baltimore very soon, which will make it even harder for Ortiz to get enough playing time to get himself acclimated to the MLB level.
Urias and Mateo both have some degree of value but neither is critical to 2024 and neither is critical to the future either, and Ortiz’s excellent defense at multiple infield spots should make him a valuable bench piece even if the bat needs some time to adjust.
Mateo’s speed is a weapon & I think that’d be very nice to have around in October. Urias is the guy I’m shopping. He’s been a solid player for us but thsre’s better things coming.
Oooo… when will the next player avoid arbitration? This is so exciting…
I wish they had a Rumors site where they discussed Baseball rumors. That would be so cool.
….downvote…
Melchy contributes another great comment
k keep me posted
Orioles were not going to be a bystander for Anthony Santander’s arbitration
Sahn-tahn-dare…..it’s okay, sometimes I also wish I could delete my comments in the app :/
Why would I want to delete my comment.
Quitters never win
I’d like to get him extended for another five years. Switch hitters like him don’t grow on trees. He’s a better right fielder than he gets credit for, as well. He was a steal as a rule V guy and I think it sends the right message to the rest of the young team that the O’s are ready to spend money on their guys. 5/90 gets it done?
I really like him, but I don’t think he’s going to age well, especially defensively. I believe they will tender him a QO this coming off season, let him walk as a FA and then take the draft pick compensation.
That is, unless he’s traded before the deadline.
I’d love to keep him around as he is one of my favorite Orioles of the post-Buck era, but it really doesn’t make any sense to extend him with Kjerstad, Mayo, and Basallo all right around the corner.
Mullins too, extend Cedric the CF Entertainer.
I love Mullins too but CF at OPACY belongs to EBJr. starting in 2026.
Ceddie’s speed has already declined a bit and is now more good than great, and that will only get worse from here on out, and his offense doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to return to his 30/30 season form, so I’d say it’s probably best to let someone else take the tab for his 30s.
I think that if extensions are going to be given out, Adley should be the #1 priority until he puts pen to paper or flatly states he will not sign.
Here’s hoping Ced still has plenty of gas in the tank. That said; the groin pull thing is of concern.
And yes, I’d extend Adley before Gunnar. He’s got that winning by quiet leadership intangible thing going on. He’s the “straw that stirs the drink”.
I wish we could extend both, but Gunnar is a Boras client who already banked a decent chunk of change from his draft bonus. He’s going to the open market, no ifs, ands, or buts. They should still give it a shot, of course.
Adley might be open to it as long as they don’t try to lowball him too hard.
Agreed on Ced concerns as well. I view him about like Santander in the sense that we have other cheaper internal options coming that can replace them.
For EBJ, big question is can he keep his ML OPS above .700. If so, there’s our plan for Ced. When was the last time you saw a player with both 80 grade speed and defense? He’ll either be a bust or a very dynamic star. No middle ground.
For extensions, I’d like to see Gunnar extended first. Then you give Holliday the Chourio treatment. Adley comes a close 3rd in priority. Again, just my armchair GM opinion of course.
@Floch
Can’t prospect love too hard. I wouldn’t be inclined to extend Mullins at this point either. But EBJr is a big question mark. There’s no power in his bat. He’ll have to be close to Luis Arraez @ making contact. There’s a hope we get Juan Pierre but we might also get a D replacement/pinch runner.
@skins
You don’t think there’s middle ground on Bradfield?
I think he’s basically guaranteed to be a defensive replacement/pinch runner. That might be all he ever amounts to but there’s a definite big league floor though.
Strowman – I guess I don’t. I get what you’re saying but I’d consider that a bust given he was a 1st rounder. Is there value with those types of players? Sure. But you have to want more than that from your top pick.
At some point though, the Orioles will have to make a decision. Should they keep him or with the influx of younger talent do they trade him? I guess they need to see how Cowser and Kjerstad progress during Spring Training.
I’m perfectly fine with letting him play out the year here as we go for another run at a WS and then letting him walk with a QO attached to secure a draft pick.
As a Rule 5 pick, he was found money and is probably more valuable to the Orioles in 2024 than anyone else that would trade for him.
@Floch I’m also cool w/ keeping Santander. The only caveat is that if our budget is limited and we could reallocate his $ towards whatever an upgraded starter would cost—I’d like that more. Realistically we should be able to squeeze a trade in for a starter and pay Santander but….
Think Kjerstad can step right in and we won’t miss much at all.
Still think Santandar for Bieber is a perfect match
No possible way Cleveland says yes to that. They want controllable OFs. They might say yes to Bieber for Mountcastle, though his declining power every year is pretty concerning.
I think Santander + some sort of mid level spect works for Bieber. Biebs is vastly overrated and I hope we don’t kick the can on him personally/
He’s better than Irvin but I believe
He’s a huge injury risk and declining
Part of me wants the O’s to make a move to bolster the rotation via trade, even if it costs you guys like Cowser. The other part of me says give guys like Bradish, Grayson, and Wells until the deadline to make sure they are progressing/replicating what we’ve seen them capable of doing. Kremer has the looks of a consistent 4th or so starter, Means when healthy is a great pitcher.
Its hard to say if you should wait to prey upon the desperation of other teams at the deadline or if you look to risk jumping the gun by trading for a big rotation upgrade before the season. Elias and Mejdal have my trust though, even in little moves like bringing in Aaron Hicks and picking up O’ Hearn I was uninspired by, but then you see how well they did.
Santander for Taylor Dollard from Mariners. And O’s kick in 3.7 mil. Dollard was a monster at AA in 2022 before he got injured early in 2023. Santander can play RF, move haniger to 1B to save his injuries. Trade france or have him play 3base again.
It’s been a little frustrating as an Orioles fan to not see them rush to build on the weakest part of their team. But I think a trade will come, whether it’s with Florida or Seattle. Elias is comfortable waiting until February. I’m guessing it happens then.
Marlins have SP for Santander and in our price range.