Anthony Santander gives the Blue Jays a welcome dose of power

TORONTO — Anthony Santander is a welcome dose of power for a Toronto Blue Jays lineup in desperate need of some, plus more. As a switch-hitter, the 30-year-old outfielder helps balance out the handedness in the middle of the lineup, while also providing the team with some long-sought lefty impact. Presumably set to bat behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr., he’s the type of cleanup threat lacking since Teoscar Hernandez was traded two off-seasons ago. And he’ll help complicate the late-game leverage planning of opposing managers, who no longer can simply roll out their best righty-erasers in quite the same way. 

To accomplish all that the Blue Jays anted up their third-biggest commitment to a free agent in franchise history, guaranteeing Santander $92.5 million over five years. The deal includes a player opt-out after the third season that can be negated by a club option for a sixth year that pushes the total package to $110 million.

For the time being, Santander’s deal is also the sixth-largest overall guarantee the franchise has ever made, slotting right behind the $96.5 million the club took on when it acquired Andres Gimenez from the Cleveland Guardians earlier this winter.

At the same time, in perhaps some vindication for the club’s approach of being strategically reactive to the market, rather than proactively driving outcomes, there is also significant deferred money in the agreement. That reduces the contract’s present value substantially — exactly how much was being worked through by the league and players’ union, and where that lands will shrink the Competitive Balance Tax hit from the initial $18.5 million annually.

In turn, using deferred money — as the Los Angeles Dodgers aggressively have over the past two off-seasons — for the first time also helps the Blue Jays keep more spending room open, and they weren’t done their pursuits after locking in Santander.

What they do next will, to some extent, help determine how heavily Santander is used in the outfield versus how often at designated hitter. While the Blue Jays continue to be linked to Pete Alonso, who could be used at DH and first base, with Guerrero getting some action at third base, another outfielder like Jurickson Profar, who is also a switch-hitter, fits both positionally and from a lineup diversification standpoint. 

The Blue Jays continue to hunt for a starting pitcher, although they’ve continued to monitor the relief market, too, remaining flexible as to where they can get the most impact. (Of note, since Santander turned down a qualifying offer, the Blue Jays forfeit their second-highest pick in this summer’s draft as well as $500,000 in international bonus pool room next year; if they sign another such player, they’ll give up their highest pick, as well)

That flexibility has been caked into their approach all winter, which also includes the Gimenez trade that also brought over reliever Nick Sandlin, the $15-million, two-year reunion with Yimi Garcia and the recent $33-million, three-year deal for closer candidate Jeff Hoffman.

Still, this off-season has been marked as much by who the Blue Jays haven’t gotten — Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and, just this weekend, Roki Sasaki — as who they have, save maybe for Myles Straw and $11 million of the money he’s still owed through 2026.

Straw’s controversial acquisition — a gambit to get an extra $2 million in international bonus pool room from Cleveland — when the Blue Jays didn’t know in advance where Sasaki was headed, was a calculated risk, even if it was widely criticized.

But team officials felt the risk was worthwhile even if it only marginally upped their chances to land the coveted righty, confident the $5 million hit this season and $6 million next year wouldn’t keep them from landing additional players.

Santander may be the first demonstration of that, as discussions between the sides gained momentum Friday after a winter’s worth of engagement between the sides, culminating in Monday’s deal. 

This is the second time he’s done a deal with Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins and president and CEO Mark Shapiro, as they were both in Cleveland when he signed as an international free agent in 2011, although there are more zeroes and commas in the total this time. 

Santander earned them after establishing himself with the Orioles, who plucked him in the 2016 Rule 5 draft, hitting 154 homers with a .786 OPS since 2019. His 44 homers last year were a career-high, 14 more than Guerrero, who was the only Blue Jays hitter to break 20.

In Santander they now have a complementary threat, and they’re hoping plenty more.