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Outfielder Anthony Santander has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, reports MLB Network’s Jon Paul Morosi. The switch-hitting slugger agreed to a five-year deal with Toronto worth more than $90 million, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Anthony Santander’s deal with the Blue Jays is for five years and more than $90 million, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 20, 2025
Santander, 30, had a career season in 2024 with free agency pending, smashing 44 home runs for the Baltimore Orioles while batting .235 with an .814 OPS.
Only Aaron Judge hit more homers among American League hitters. And those 44 home runs were the fifth-highest total by a switch-hitter in major league history.
He was ranked No. 11 on Yahoo Sports’ list of the Top 50 MLB free agents going into the offseason.
“Not only does Santander feature rare power for a switch-hitter, but his splits are also balanced in a way that few switch-hitters’ are. He’s a threat from both sides of the plate and strikes out less than the average hitter, allowing his power to play with regularity.”
Santander did most of his damage in 2024 as a power-hitting left-handed batter, hitting .239 with an .822 OPS and 32 homers. While batting right-handed, Santander slugged 12 home runs with a .225 average and .793 OPS.
Previously, the most home runs Santander hit in a season was 33 in 2022, along with 24 doubles and 89 RBI.
In eight seasons with the Orioles, Santander hit .246 with a .776 OPS, 155 home runs, 155 doubles and 435 RBI. He originally signed with the Cleveland Guardians as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela and the Orioles acquired him through the Rule 5 Draft in 2016.
With five seasons of 18 or more home runs, the Orioles got excellent value out of that pick.
In recent years, the Blue Jays have been better known for the free agents they’ve lost out on, including Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki. Toronto also showed interest in reuniting with outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, who played there from 2017–22.
However, the Jays still had three big names to pursue with Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman and Santander. They finally hooked a big fish for their lineup.
The question now becomes which position Santander will play. He manned right field for the majority of his career with Baltimore, but George Springer holds that spot in Toronto. Santander will then likely either play left field or bat mostly as a designated hitter. Most importantly, he brings left-handed power to the middle of the Blue Jays’ batting order.
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