Tony, well, he Tatered, he played good defense, and he stayed healthy—all in a walk year. Will the homegrown Oriole be back next season?
Um… finders keepers? Every season, there’s an unwelcome reminder that your beloved game of baseball is, after all, a business. Anthony Santander, who just turned 30, hit .235/.308/.506/.814 this season with 25 doubles, two triples, a team-best 44 homers, 91 runs and 102 RBIs. The batting average isn’t great but the power is.
Santander finished second in the AL and third in the majors in homers, becoming just the eighth switch-hitter to hit 40 or more in a season, and also the eighth Oriole, the last one before him Mark Trumbo in 2016. Not only that, the last time an Oriole had 100 or more RBIs was 2017, when Jonathan Schoop drove in 105.
Santander is now the longest-tenured Oriole on the team, but nagging voices out there are buzzing that the switch-hitting slugger is soon to find a home with another team. According to The Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich, Santander would like to stay in Baltimore, but he’s likely earned himself quite a payday after earning his first All-Star nod and trailing only Aaron Judge for the AL home run crown.
It was back in 2016 that the Orioles took a risk by selecting the switch-hitting Santander from Cleveland in the Rule 5 draft, but that risk has certainly paid off. Santander was injury-prone during his first years as a pro in the minors, but be it diet or a new conditioning routine, he’s actually turned himself into a durable player, having played 152, 153 and 155 the last three seasons.
Santander’s 40-home run season started off in an unlikely way: he hit just .207 in May with five home runs. It was a little troubling, but it’s not out-of-line with his history: historically he takes a while to get going. He certainly did this year, breaking out with a .264 average and 13 four-baggers in June. July was his best month: he posted a .303 average and homered nine more times. He sagged a bit in August and September (the whole team did), but kept homering.
That included a very consequential home run on September 9, when Santander took Boston’s Josh Winckowski deep in the seventh inning, his fortieth bomb of the season. It’d taken him a while, as he acknowledged that he got stuck at thirty-nine, the pressure getting to him. But then, sweet relief:
Santander also tended to homer in crucial situations this year, which was vital for his team’s hopes. Of Santander’s 44 home runs, 20 were game-tying or go-ahead blasts. That includes one of the coolest moments of the ’24 season, a game-winning grand slam against the Astros on August 23rd.
The ball was far out of the strike zone, but who cares? He still pounded it 403 feet and powered his team to a much-needed win at a time when they were scuffling. It was just one example of a season where Santander would sometimes single-handedly carry this team with his power and clutch hitting.
Hence the bittersweetness. Santander, as we all know, is a free agent. And as the rare Rule 5 guy to truly break out, he’s earned himself a payday. How much? Birds Watcher pointed out some deals comparable to what Santander, who posted a 126 OPS+ with 8.1 bWAR between 2022-24, might get. Teoscar Hernández, who entered free agency with a 122 OPS+ and 8.7 bWAR over his previous three seasons, inked a one-year, $23.5 million deal with the Dodgers. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had a 116 OPS+ and 6.0 bWAR in three seasons before signing a three-year, $42 million deal with Arizona. Those numbers are generous, but not eye-popping.
However, a week or so ago, former GM Jim Bowden of the Athletic predicted the slugger to sign a seven-year, $150.5 million deal, writing:
A lot of teams are looking for corner outfielders with power and there won’t be a lot of those players available via free agency or trades. This season Santander had 44 home runs, 102 RBIs and 91 runs scored, all of which were career highs. He’s hit 105 homers over the past three seasons and is still only 30.
That number seems quite high to me, but if it’s reasonable, great news for Santander and his family, and poor news for Orioles fans who want to see the team keep him. After all, the O’s payroll this year ranked a modest 22nd among MLB teams, and while GM Mike Elias recently implied that he was “pretty confident” that the team would spend to remain competitive, such a contract would be among the largest in Orioles history. It would be unusual, too, given that the Orioles have drafted a lot of young outfielders, and that some are guessing they will try to stay in the running to resign ace starter Corbin Burnes.
So who knows. Santander has already been linked to the Reds and the Blue Jays (gross), but not based on real rumors so much as those teams’ needs. Despite Santander’s below-average foot speed and range in the outfield, plenty of teams would love to have a switch-hitting corner bat with power. How much will that push up his value? And if the answer is, “a lot,” will the Orioles pony up the cash for him? It may be premature to start rolling out the Santander Orioles retrospectives, especially given how easily the team let go of prospect Kyle Stowers in a midseason deal. Stay tuned. Stranger things have happened.
Previous 2024 player reviews: Keegan Akin, Cionel Pérez, Cole Irvin, Ryan O’Hearn, Craig Kimbrel, Cade Povich, midseason position player acquisitions, Jackson Holliday, injured starting pitchers, James McCann, midseason pitching acquisitions, Jorge Mateo, Yennier Cano, Dean Kremer, Albert Suárez, Ryan Mountcastle
Tomorrow: Jacob Webb