Blue Jays Signing Anthony Santander Has Been Massive Mistake So Far
It has been an inconsistent season for the Toronto Blue Jays so far with the team hovering around the .500 mark.
After what appeared to be a really strong winter for the Blue Jays, the hope was that the team was going to be a contender this campaign.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case this season once again, and one of the reasons why is that some of their offseason acquisitions haven’t panned out.
Toronto has had some struggles convincing players to join the team in recent years, but the franchise was able to bring in some notable talent this winter. On paper, it appeared like the Blue Jays were going to be a better team, but that hasn’t been the case as of now.
Which Offseason Move Has Been a Mistake?
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the biggest mistake for the Blue Jays this offseason being the signing of Anthony Santander so far.
“Throwing in the towel on a signee less than two months into a five-year deal would be wildly premature, but the fact remains that Toronto hasn't gotten anything close to what it paid for with Anthony Santander.”
While there were a couple of notably bad moves so far from the Blue Jays, the signing of Santander to a long-term deal was always going to carry the most risk.
Toronto inked the slugger to a five-year, $90 million deal and was expected to be a compliment to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the middle of the lineup.
The switch-hitting slugger was coming off a 44-home run season in 2024 with the Baltimore Orioles and was considered to be one of the best power hitters on the market.
However, despite success in recent years, he has been a bit of a slow starter. For the Blue Jays, they will certainly be hoping that is the case, as the numbers aren’t great as of now.
So far, he has slashed .182/.264/.308 with five home runs and 16 RBI. When Toronto signed him, they likely knew that most of his value came from being able to hit the ball out of the park.
Despite success, he has never been a high batting average or on-base percentage player. Furthermore, he has never been known as a strong defender, making his slow start in terms of hitting a major concern for the team.
While this could be simply nothing more than a slow start to the campaign, the Blue Jays have reason to be concerned given the amount that they have invested in Santander. Even though there is plenty of time to turn things around, his struggles have held the offense back thus far.
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Nick Ziegler is an alumnus of the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. He has been working in sports media covering the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL for nearly a decade with various publications online. With his free time, Nick enjoys being at the Jersey Shore with his wife, daughter, and their golden retriever. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @NickZiegler20.