TORONTO – Before we get into opt-outs and contract deferrals and competitive balance tax thresholds, let’s start with the baseball player.
Anthony Santander’s a switch-hitting 30-year-old who just clubbed 44 home runs. You want him on your team, and now the Blue Jays have him. That’s far from the full picture here, but it’s an essential part of it. They’re a better team with Santander hitting behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. than they would be with Will Wagner there, or Alejandro Kirk.
There’s more work to be done for the Blue Jays — we’ll get to that soon — but the five-year, $92.5 million contract they completed with Santander Monday represents progress. The terms of the deal first appear to fit right in between the predicted contracts from MLB Trade Rumors (four years, $80 million) and FanGraphs (five years, $100 million).
Yet a source said the deal also includes deferrals that lower the Blue Jays’ CBT hit substantially, making the effective cost of the deal lower than $18.5 million per year. The accountants can handle the details, but bottom line here is the Blue Jays get a middle-of-the-order hitter for the next five seasons at a reasonable price.
That’s a significant step toward contention, and yet there’s still more work to do — with some intriguing opportunities out there. The Blue Jays are not done adding, with position players and pitchers both on their radar following the acquisition of Santander, the third biggest free-agent deal in franchise history behind George Springer and Kevin Gausman.
Their biggest deals of the winter may now be complete, but there's still reason for the front office to keep pushing whether that results in another big swing or — at minimum — further pitching reinforcements.
On the position player side, Pete Alonso’s still available since the Mets appear willing to move on from the 30-year-old slugger who has averaged 43 home runs per 162 games played in his six seasons as a big leaguer. Like Santander, Alonso has his limitations — as some executives are quick to remind you, these two are not especially fast and they don't play premium defensive positions.
At the same time, there’s still room to improve this Blue Jays offence. The designated hitter spot might currently belong to Will Wagner, who was displaced off second base by the Andres Gimenez trade, so you could theoretically add Alonso and have him split first base and DH with Guerrero Jr.
Or, depending on how much third base Guerrero Jr. plays, Alonso could handle the majority of first base reps. But even beyond Alonso, there are ways to improve this offence. Adding an outfielder would be one way to augment the overall position player corps, as Santander, Springer and a potential newcomer could rotate through DH and the two corner outfield spots.
As the season progresses, the likes of Addison Barger, Joey Loperfido, Alan Roden and Jonatan Clase would ideally emerge as viable contributors for a contending team, so the Blue Jays aren’t desperate when it comes to outfield help, but they can at least look to be opportunistic (maybe it’s worth calling the Padres about Fernando Tatis Jr. and Dylan Cease just in case).
On the pitching side, the Blue Jays’ needs are more clear. Having augmented their bullpen, they’re now described by some industry sources as less aggressive in the relief market. Jeff Hoffman, Yimi Garcia and Nick Sandlin certainly make this bullpen better on paper — a necessary step following the group's exceptionally poor showing in 2024.
The rotation could still use help, though. As soon as the off-season started, there was genuine interest in upgrading the starting five and subsequent pursuits of Corbin Burnes and Roki Sasaki offered reminders of that need.
Having missed on both, the Blue Jays can still pursue shorter-term solutions who would nonetheless deepen the club’s rotation for 2025. Max Scherzer, now 40 and looking to bounce back from a season in which he pitched just 43.1 innings, would be an intriguing option if the Blue Jays believe he can pitch 100 innings or more in 2025.
A former teammate of Chris Bassitt’s, Scherzer would give the Blue Jays depth at a precarious position and if all six Toronto starters were somehow healthy at the end of spring training, they could use Yariel Rodriguez as a spot starter and long reliever, a role that might suit him well.
The addition of Santander surely didn’t go unnoticed by Scherzer, who will presumably sign a one-year deal (for reference, 41-year-olds Justin Verlander and Charlie Morton each signed for $15 million).
Alternatively, the Blue Jays could go younger with someone like Nick Pivetta, the Victoria native who turned down a qualifying offer from the Red Sox. Just 31 years old, Pivetta will surely have multi-year offers to choose from, but at this point it’s unclear how seriously the Blue Jays have pursued him.
Like Alonso and Scherzer, Pivetta is a client of Scott Boras, the powerful agent who has already landed monster deals for Juan Soto and Burnes this off-season. He also represents Alex Bregman, who would fit neatly onto the Blue Jays’ depth chart but might get bigger offers from the Tigers and Red Sox.
Wherever this winter leads next for the Blue Jays, further conversations with Boras are likely high on their to-do list.
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