The Blue Jays have been tied to Anthony Santander as much as any team in recent weeks. While there’s still no agreement in place, Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet report that the Jays’ talks with the free agent slugger “picked up” this morning.
Toronto is reeling from another near-miss on a top free agent. Their talks with Roki Sasaki were never linked to the possibility of a Santander move. Sasaki’s hard-capped bonus meant that his decision would not have impacted the Jays’ big league payroll. Still, his decision to sign with the Dodgers leaves the Jays without a headlining free agent acquisition this winter. Their big splash on the open market was the three-year, $33MM deal for reliever Jeff Hoffman. Toronto’s most significant move has come via trade, as they took on the remaining five years of the Andrés Giménez contract from the Guardians.
Giménez is a defensive stalwart at second base, but he doesn’t provide a huge boost offensively. The Jays sorely need a power bat, in particular. They were in the bottom five of MLB in home runs last season. Their .389 team slugging percentage was 20th. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit 30 home runs; no one else on the team had more than 19 longballs. They’re only returning three hitters who slugged over .400: Guerrero, Ernie Clement and Daulton Varsho. Clement is generally a light-hitting utilityman, while Varsho is expected to open the season on the injured list after undergoing rotator cuff surgery in September.
The switch-hitting Santander has four 20-homer seasons under his belt. He has connected on at least 28 longballs in each of the last three years, including a personal-high 44 last season. Santander hit .235/.308/.506 across 665 plate appearances in his walk year for the Orioles. Only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani had more home runs a season ago.
Toronto has also been linked to Pete Alonso in recent days. Alonso is the only other unsigned free agent who rivals or tops Santander’s power. The latter is a cleaner positional fit. While Alonso would either need to serve as a designated hitter or force the Jays to move Guerrero to third base fairly frequently, Santander would slot into the corner outfield. The Jays don’t have a clear starter in left field. George Springer is expected to play right field, but he’s 35 years old and coming off a mediocre season (.220/.303/.371).
The Jays reportedly had an offer out to Santander a couple weeks ago. Clearly, that didn’t meet his asking price at the time. The Athletic reported last week that he may now be open to a shorter-term contract at higher annual values. Earlier in the offseason, Santander was reportedly seeking five years and a deal at or above $100MM.
Who cares!!!!
I do. I heart the Jays.As a Padres fan I feel their pain.
We all know it’s the MLAB and that’s it.
MLB will give LA the next 10 WS.
Toronto and San Diego, we stand in solidarity against MLAB.
Tow, you must have solidarity with your little brother just head North on I-5 until you see the Space Needle. We’re in the same boat, more or less.
Get a life.
Bring snacks. That’s going to be a long drive!
Get a life.
Second on the who cares!….
Fire Atkins
His agent that’s about it
Second on Fire Atkins!
Probably already on the plane.
Start the rebuild but first fire shatkins
Atkins is so bad lol. It’s actually funny at this point
Now he’s publicly so desperate that every agent is jacking up their clients price.
Jays are only get someone now if they over pay big time.
Jays will be a finalist again…
Do they still need that pool money if not dodgers can use some
I can see them using it to sign the Dodgers picks they can’t sign if there are any good ones left.
Prob somehow miss getting him also. But let’s say they do… it’s not near enough
Didn’t they just acquire Myles Straw? Why do they need another power hitter??????
at this point the jokes write themselves
Anthony this is poor journalism.
There was no “near miss” for the Jays on Sasaki. He was never going to the Jays and even I reported on Jan 14 the deal with the Dodgers was already done. Yeeesh. Get wth it MLBTR.
For the 1000th time, Shapiro and Atkins gotta go.
@Jim
And you are? You seem very arrogant. I’ll go with the writing staff here over you all day when it comes to having a better pulse on things.
Reported? LOL. This is bad comedy.
Unfortunately, he is being serious. He has some problems
But Toronto is a international city! He could have entire country rooting for him! They had to have 2 teams as finalists and Toronto was one of them!
You can’t “report” something based on gut instinct. Talk about poor journalism.
Not a bad consolation prize.
Agree. It’s awful.
Lol
Aren’t they 0-1000 on free agents?
1 for 1000 they got what’s his name who’s arm is about to fall off.
Thanks for the laugh I needed that
Seems like the Jays fans replying aren’t in a good mood.
Santander has always seemed like a good fit for the Jays. They certainly need some offense.
Agree. Not a star. Doesn’t play premium position. Not going to make big enough difference. Cost them a draft pick. Perfect fit for Jays.
He’d hit more hone runs than anyone on the team but yeah I guess a mid round draft pick would be better you’re right.
Early round draft pick. And you can get 1st round talents in rounds 2 3 4.
And if hrs equal wins then Pete would have got his 200m instead of teams preferring to sign Goldschmidt Santana Walker and trading for Naylor Lowe Horowitz.
More about $ being more useful spent elsewhere. But this isn’t a guy you part with picks for.
The Jays could sign all the remaining top free agents and it still wouldn’t be enough to save this sinking ship. Time for a complete overhaul, starting with management.
Keep your draft pick. You aren’t a strong contender. Santander won’t make you one. He’s not a star that will sell tickets. Draft picks are helpful in stacking the farm. Don’t sign him.
Time to can Atkins
Traded for a D only 2B who is grossly overpaid.
Than signed a RP who had Red Flags in his Medicals and finally
Traded with his old team again for a OF who couldnt hit his way out of AAA.
And their ML System is one of the worst in Baseball.
As much as I hate to say it they need to trade-
Gausman
Bassitt
Vladi
Bichette
Varsho
Kirk and just start new
This team is a complete mess since they let AA walk
Agreed. If they decide to rebuild, Atkins is obviously not the guy who should be steering that ship.
But if they don’t, I’d rather they sign Alonso over Santander.
2021:
Springer
Semien
Bo
Vlad
Teo
Kirk/Jansen
Gurriel
Grichuk
Biggio
Ray
Ryu
Matz
Manoah
Stripling
Berrios
Not a bad team by any stretch of the imagination. Certainly not a “complete mess.”
Has anybody done the calculation of how many of the 44 homeruns Santander hit last season would have still happened if his home park was Rogers Centre? I know that calculation can be done somewhere but I lost that reference.
39 bombs and baseball savant is the place you’re thinking of.
baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/anthony-santa…
Forgot would have. He seemed to hit at least one every time he came to Toronto.
The remaining free agents are at the bottom of the dumpster now.
As mentioned above…save the draft picks for the next regime…
Fire Atkins and start fresh next year with a new front office.
Trade anyone with a pulse for top level prospects.
This year will be lucky if they win 65 games.
When will Atkins learn? I mean, Ohtani, sure, you could have possibly been in the running with the contract you supposedly offered if the Dodgers wouldnt do the same. But as Roki was essentially free there was no incentive for him to come Toronto. It never made sense.
Agreed…there were many other teams that didn’t bother…let alone take on a bad contract for the sake of improving non existent chances.
Shatkins have gotta have some interesting reputation amongst the player’s agents.
He’s on the tarmac in Toronto.
Both Santander and Alonso look perfect for the Jays.
A quintessential 2nd division MLB organization with a big, brassy park where waitresses dressed like barmaids deliver gourmet food to the high-rollers in the expensive seats. Mark Shapiro is selling entertainment. That’s his job, and he’s good at it.
Both of those players would be prefect for the Jays. They need some gate attractions to sell to the fans that show up expecting to be entertained.
–
I like both of those players. While they aren’t top-tier FA’s, they do deserve better. Clearly they’re asking for too many years and dollars.
Waitresses dressed like barmaids ? In Canada ? Where in my experience, the coolest, most outstanding ladies in the world reside ? Oh my. Bravo to that entrepreneur.
Jays took on 140 mil in commitments for 2 guys with sub .650 OPS and a reliever who failed to physicals lol.
two*
Instead of chasing Santander, maybe it’s time to steer into a rebuild.
Jays obviously can’t seem to land star talent, and Atkins/Shapiro have no idea as to how to build a contender. Jays fans ain’t going to want to hear it, but instead of one or two more additions that get the team to the .500 mark this year, sending out Vlad, Bo, Gausman, Berrios and others for prospects might be the most prudent move. Why take the chance that you don’t make the playoffs, and you let Vlad, Bo walk for free next winter.
Always trade deadline and qualifying offer picks. Rebuilding makes sense. I think they want to trick fans into thinking they are serious contenders. They fixed up Rogers and dream of filling it. But they struck out on all the real free agents. If they don’t want to pay Vlad they should just rebuild. Don’t think fans are going to fall for it and even if they do they won’t next year when Vlad leaves.
While not a fan of it, I can see why rebuilding would be the smarter move. If they do that, they need to fire Atkins though. It’s obvious he is not a good judge of talent. He was hired to improve the farm system, and it’s gotten worse than when AA was running things.
I am a Jays fan and I have been screaming rebuild since last year.
The Jimenez trade has got be the most puzzling move of the offseason
No one gives a it about Jimenez. If I’m spending 20 30 million I want my casual fans to know who this freaking guy is. That’s star $. Yeah IF he keeps running and playing defense he is worth that I guess. But fans are looking at average hrs RBI OPS. I like Horowitz as well. So not like they just ate the salary. They gave up a all star strong platoon maybe.
What’s the hindrance to securing a FA? If there’s the currency exchange/ tax issues then offer enough to even things out. They don’t go thru customs the way a regular person does. They have expedited services. Why is it so tough? Toronto is a nice, clean, international city. They should willingly over pay for Alonzo and Bregman. The East is open for an easy wild card march.
$. Most players will go anywhere if they can make the most $. I personally wouldn’t want to have to pay more because of my cities taxes and world series odds. Many teams agree with me.
They just aren’t a good team. Why sign with them when contenders are offering similar money?
This is it. They are declining with a murky future at this moment.
There isn’t any currency exchange issues at all. Contracts are paid in USD, so it doesn’t matter whether you play in the US or Canada.
I will agree that taxes would be the hindrance, but California has the highest tax rates in the US, and when you factor in the cost of living, I’d actually say that playing in Canada will cost you the same as in California
And one can argue that living in Canada for 81 games is more bang for the buck because of a depressed loony against the dollar.
The hindrance is a declining team with an uncertain future.
I would like to see Santander on the Braves. Alonso on the Jays.
I would rather the Jays sign Alonso over Santander, tbh
Allow the dodgers to sign him too.
The top 5 teams in payroll every year should get 1st dibs on any free agents available, then the rest of the league get their chance.
Wait a second
I’d like to see Dodgers field a 2nd team. At least have a lil bit of competition in the NL west.
More teams in LA is not actually a bad idea.
You pretty much described the American workforce.
The dodgers should actually just get him fur free. Like if you spend enough money here, you get a gift basket on your birthday.
They already got their man in Myles Straw.
No thanks. I’d rather they take Alonso on a short deal. Yes, Alonso did not have a good season, but he’s still been one of the premier power hitters in the league in the last 5 years. And they already have enough defense at other positions.
Santander had a career year last year. I don’t believe he’ll repeat.
People can talk about taxes and currency and the foreign country /customs all they want. None of that matters if the team is a contender or rising contender.
Players want to win and the team appears to be heading for a rebuild. It appears that way to us and it appears that way to the players too. If this was the 2020 off season there’d be way more serious interest. The team has declined every year since. Why would too guys want to jump on now?
As a Jays fan, it’s embarrassing to be around a lot of other Jays fans. They had an awful season last year and it’s like the previous 5 years before that didn’t happen. Not the end result we all want but still respectable to make the postseason that many times. Who knows what happens with this team in the ultra competitive AL East this season but these whine-first daily, sad sack crybabies don’t represent all of the Jays fan base.
Tough news this off-season no doubt but let’s man up a little and not act like we had our lunch stolen.