Toronto Blue Jays Top Free-Agent Signing Has Been a Bust So Far This Season
As the Toronto Blue Jays continue to try and contend in the American League East, the team has been struggling of late.
Despite a nice start to the season, the Blue Jays have now lost seven of their last eight games and find themselves sliding down to fourth in the AL East.
With losses piling up, there is certainly some concern about the outlook for the team going forward, especially considering how challenging their division is going to be.
While they have had some strong performances, they also have a couple of players underperforming in the first month of the campaign.
On paper, the lineup for Toronto has the potential to be one of the best in the league, but only two of their key players are performing well, in George Springer and Bo Bichette.
Furthermore, even Vladimir Guererro Jr. is off to a slow start, slashing .272/.372/.388 with two home runs and 12 RBI.
However, while many are struggling, it has been one of their top prizes in free agency, which has been arguably the most disappointing to begin the year.
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about one of the biggest busts so far this season being Blue Jays slugger Anthony Santander.
“April never has been his favorite month, though. Santander did his best work in June and July last year, and thrived in May and August in 2023. In fact, for his career, he presently has a .640 OPS in March/April, compared to .825 in May, .852 in August and .861 in July.”
While slow starts are somewhat of the norm for Santander, joining a new team after signing a significant contract creates new-found pressure. So far, the early results from the signing are far from ideal.
The switch-hitting slugger was one of the best power hitters in baseball last campaign, but that has yet to be seen with Toronto. So far in 2025, he has slashed .179/.261/.302 with three home runs and nine RBI.
One of the concerns about signing Santander around the league was that if there was a dip in power, his value would be greatly diminished.
The Blue Jays are unfortunately finding that out right now. With just three home runs and a on-base percentage below .300, he isn’t doing much to help the offense so far.
However, it is still early in the season, and he can quickly turn things around like he has done in the past.
While replicating his 40-home run season from 2024 might never happen again, he totaled a slugging percentage north of .450 the two years prior to that monster year as well.
Overall, while Santander might be a bust as of now, there is plenty of time to turn it around.
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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.