MLB insider gives shuddering prediction following Blue Jays-Anthony Santander deal

Anthony Santander's future in Toronto could be linked to one necessary move this offseason.

Sep 20, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA;  Baltimore Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander (25) runs to the dugout after the top of the second inning against the Detroit Tigers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images
Sep 20, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander (25) runs to the dugout after the top of the second inning against the Detroit Tigers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Everyone in the Toronto Blue Jays front office must have breathed a huge sigh of relief after they successfully signed their first big-name free-agent hitter this offseason. After finishing second in almost every pursuit for 2.5 months, they inked slugging outfielder Anthony Santander to a five-year, $92.5 million contract, a deal made official on Tuesday at Rogers Centre.

Everyone, from the media to the team to the fans, seems to be in agreement that Santander is a great fit for the Blue Jays, at least at this moment. He's a good solution to one of the team's acute needs this offseason — offense.

After the 2024 lineup scored the eighth-fewest runs in the majors, landing a big, proven bat was a winter necessity for Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins.

“Anthony is about as good of a fit as we can find,” Atkins said during Tuesday's press conference, per MLB.com's Keegan Matheson. “Doing it from both sides of the plate, putting the ball in the seats a regular amount. His ability to do damage on a nightly basis is exactly what we were looking for. He’s a great addition to this lineup.”

MLB insider gives shuddering prediction following Blue Jays-Anthony Santander deal

While the immediate fit in Toronto is obvious, ESPN's Buster Olney offered a bone-chilling assessment of the potential disaster in the making on TSN 1050 Toronto's First Up. The MLB insider suggested that the Blue Jays made a mistake giving the 30-year-old Santander what is a not small amount of money before they've done the most important thing on their winter to-do list in extending first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

"It's almost like we forecast this in our previous conversations," Olney said to hosts Aaron Korolnek and Carlo Colaiacovo. "At some point, are they going to wind up overpaying Santander to a contract in six or eight months they'll be looking to get out of?"

Six to eight months? Yikes.

What a disaster that would be. Wanting to get out of a fresh five-year deal — six, with the option — just one season in wouldn't be a good look for Atkins and the Blue Jays. But after the love-in at Rogers Centre earlier this week, why would they want to cut bait suddenly?

"If they don't sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and they're forced into a decision at some point in the next six months to trade him, then what you're going to have at the end of the year is potentially the same problem, not really having the core guys locked up and now you have an older player signed to a long-term deal that clearly other teams don't want to give him," Olney said.

If the Blue Jays successfully extend Guerrero, Santander is the perfect bat in a lineup that offered Vladdy Jr. very little protection last season. If Guerrero doesn't sign and he's gone after the 2025 season, Santander is the only proven legitimate power threat in the lineup but isn't the kind of player the front office will want to build around for the future.

If the latter transpires, the Blue Jays will be stuck with a long-term contract they might not want, unless they can entice a trade partner to the table. With lots of moving parts, Olney might end up being right in his prognostication. Like everything else with this franchise, it all hinges on the Blue Jays signing Guerrero.

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