Jays avoided disaster by prioritizing Anthony Santander over Jurickson Profar in free agency

After the 2024 season, it was clear the Toronto Blue Jays were in the market for outfield help. After missing out on Juan Soto at the beginning of the offseason, the Blue Jays shifted their focus toward the rest of the free agent outfield market, and it seemed evident that two names stood out among everyone else: Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar.

In the end, Toronto ended up inking Santander to a five-year, $95.5 million contract to have him anchor their outfield for the future.

We're not even a week into the 2025 season, it's already clear the Blue Jays made the right decision in their outfield decision after Profar was suspended 80 games for PEDs

Jays avoided disaster by prioritizing Anthony Santander over Jurickson Profar in free agency

While Santander entered Wednesday 4-for-23 at the plate, he's been able to be on the field — and will continue to be. The same can't be said for Profar, who can return in July but will be ineligible for the postseason. That's if the Braves make it; they've started the season 0-6 while the Blue Jays have a winning record after a tough opening series.

Both Profar and Santander entered free agency on the back of All-Star seasons, which helped them rise to the top of the non-Soto category of free agent outfielders.

Santander was coming off a 44-homer season with the Orioles while Profar hit. 280 with 14 home runs and 85 RBI for the Padres, so it wasn't hard to imagine either of them fitting into a Blue Jays outfield that struggled to produce in 2024.

The Blue Jays ended up prioritizing Santander and signed him to his contract while Profar was still a free agent. Three days later, the Braves inked Profar to a three-year, $42 million contract.

Perhaps the only good news for the Braves to come out of Profar's suspension is that they won't need to pay the outfielder while he's suspended, so they'll save approximately $5.8 million in salary and luxury-tax payroll.

But those moderate savings are likely falling on deaf ears right now in Atlanta. It's a long season, but no Braves team that's started a season 0-5 has ever made the postseason.

But the Blue Jays' decision to go with Santander over Profar isn't the only way the offseason connection the teams have.

Last November, the Braves had a deal in place with Jeff Hoffman before backing out due to medicals. According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal (subscription required), the team intended to make Hoffman the centerpiece of their offseason moves. Instead, they pivoted to the outfield, which led to them signing Profar.

Per MLB.com's Mark Bowman, Hoffman's deal with the Braves would have been a five-year deal between $45 and 48 million.

Their loss of Hoffman ended up being the Blue Jays' gain, as Hoffman signed a three-year, $33 million deal with the Blue Jays after both the Braves and Orioles backed out of deals with him due to his medicals.

And like the outfielders, this is another move that looks worse for Atlanta in comparison. Hoffman's entered Wednesday with three scoreless innings on his ledger this year, while the Braves bullpen has a 5.21 ERA in 19 innings.

Things have gone from bad to worse for the Braves, but it's also not hard to imagine that happening in Toronto this season considering how much the the Braves and Blue Jays seemed to be in lockstep in their free agent targets.

But, luckily for Blue Jays fans, the early returns for Toronto's moves have been great.