On Friday, we heard that the Blue Jays are giving free agent slugger Teoscar Hernandez “something to think about” this offseason.
We also heard on Friday that the Jays are reportedly the favorite for former Baltimore Orioles slugger Anthony Santander.
That came from Jon Heyman of the New York Post:
Power hitters, even good ones like Santander, are one constituency not getting their due yet. Understandably, he’s been looking to crack $100M. The Jays are nearly everyone’s best guess, followed by Boston.
From a pure speculation standpoint, it doesn’t seem as if the Blue Jays would want to pay or have room for both sluggers, but hey, if you’re in the running for two, maybe you can land one.
That would work well for the Jays, who are desperate for a big signing after losing out on Juan Soto and Max Fried this offseason. They are also desperate for some additional lineup help for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and they are also hoping that bringing him support will help make him want to stay long-term.
The 30-year-old Santander is native of Venezuela and coming off an incredible year for Baltimore where he hit .235 with 44 homers and brought in 102. A lifetime .246 hitter, he helped Baltimore get to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons (2023 and 2024).
Santander has hit 28 homers or more in each of the last three seasons and has brought in at least 89 runs in each of those years also. Defensively, he’s played in right field and that would represent a bit of an issue for Toronto, who already has George Springer out there.