Blue Jays Already Having Buyer's Remorse With Free Agent Spending Spree

The Toronto Blue Jays were aggressive this past offseason in free agency seeking upgrades for the roster.

They have had no issues pursuing players, but sealing the deal has been troublesome for the franchise. No matter how much money they offered, convincing free agents to come north of the border was a challenge.

However, this past winter, they found a lot more success on the market.

They brought in multiple free agents to help both in the lineup and on the mound.

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Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, none of the deals have quite panned out yet, but the most concerning one is easily Anthony Santander.

Signed away from their American League East rivals, the Baltimore Orioles, the 2024 All-Star looked to be filling a huge void on the team.

Toronto needed more pop in their lineup to go along with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette and Santander looked capable of providing that.

He hit 44 home runs last year with 102 RBI, both career highs. A bona fide power hitter, his addition looked to be helpful for a team lacking punch.

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The Blue Jays pursued him aggressively, agreeing to a five-year, $92.5 million deal that could be worth as much as $110 million over six years.

Based on how things have gone thus far, that team option in 2030 is not going to be exercised by the franchise.

Santander has been abysmal thus far, producing a slash line of .179/.273/.304 with only six home runs through 209 plate appearances before landing on the injured list with shoulder inflammation.

“However, against the backdrop of him being the one fish Toronto finally caught in free agency after almost reeling in so many of the gigantic names who hit the market in recent years, his atrocious start with the Blue Jays has been borderline cruel and unusual punishment to that fanbase,” wrote Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report, who ranked Santander No. 5 amongst he most cringy contracts in baseball this year.

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With a career .459 slugging percentage, there is at least some hope the shoulder ailment could have been holding him back early in his tenure with the franchise.

Alas, this start is about as bad as Santander could have had, especially because his bat is the only value he brings to the table.

Not making an impact with his base running or defense, if Santander isn’t hitting, the Blue Jays are essentially taking up payroll space by paying a designated hitter to sit on the bench.

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