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Blue Jays in hot water over Anthony Santander's social media posts

Blue Jays issued an apology that didn't satisfy all of it's fans.
ByMatthew Sookram
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May 3, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Anthony Santander (25) celebrates after hitting a double against the Cleveland Guardians during the third inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
May 3, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Anthony Santander (25) celebrates after hitting a double against the Cleveland Guardians during the third inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Things aren't looking good for Anthony Santander right now. The Toronto Blue Jays' outfielder faced backlash online about some posts he made shortly after Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections.

The 32-year-old reposted stories on his personal Instagram account that had Islamophobic messaging. In one of the posts, a video claimed all Muslims elected to office on Tuesday are radicals, and want to impose Sharia law in the U.S. Congress. A second post, included a video alleging that Muslims are violent and that Islam is "not peaceful." Both posts were in response to Michigan electing Dr. Abdul El-Sayed as their Senator.

The posts were taken down after Blue Jays fans responded with critcism and the team put out a statement.

“Baseball is for everyone,” the statement read, “and the Blue Jays have created an inclusive experience where all fans feel welcome at our ballpark. Individual comments do not represent our organization’s values and beliefs.”

Some fans felt the statements fell flat and are expecting more to be done. In 2023, the Blue Jays cut ties with relief pitcher Anthony Bass after he shared social media posts that were anti-LGBTQ. At that time, Bass apologized public. He addressed Toronto media and said, "I recognize yesterday I made a post that was hurtful to the Pride community, which includes friends of mine and close family members of mine and I’m truly sorry for that."

Even with the apology, Bass was released later that week and it's possible some fans are expecting the same repercussions with Santander. If the Blue Jays truly stand by their statement there should be more fallout, whether that is a public apology by Santander or something else.

The Blue Jays play in one of the most multicultural cities in the world and to their credit they host a variety of promotional night's throughout the season that celebrate that cultural diversity. Pride Night and Caribbean Carnival night have become staples at Rogers Centre over the last few years.

But in sports, money and performance trump everything else and there is a big difference between Bass' value to the team and the potential value of Santander.

Anthony Santander's comments could give Blue Jays a get out of free jail card to part ways with controversial slugger

Santander signed a five-year, $92.5 million deal with the Blue Jays ahead of the 2025 season. He's set to make $18.5 million annually until 2030 - with a player opt-out and team option that year.

Coming off a 44 home run season with the Baltimore Orioles, the Santander signing was looked at as a good move at the time by Blue Jays' GM Ross Atkins to help give the Blue Jays some slug in the middle of their lineup. But Santander has spent the majority of the past two seasons on the injured list - missing the entire 2026 season.

It's a lot of money to just throw away but at this rate, Santander has basically already done that. Approximately $36 million has already been flushed away based on Santander's actual time spent playing for the Blue Jays.

This feels like it could be a perfect excuse for the Blue Jays to just walk away from a guy that is bringing the wrong kind of attention to the club.

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