Toronto

Blue Jays

The deal is now official. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the agreement includes an opt-out following the 2027 season that is tied to a club option for 2030 that brings the total value to $110 million. KPRC 2 Houston’s Ari Alexander adds that the deal also contains more than $35 million deferred. Santander provides Toronto’s lineup with an immediate jolt as a middle-of-the-order force to complement franchise cornerstone Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The switch-hitting 30-year-old slugger, who blasted a career-best 44 dingers last year in his final season with the Orioles, has eclipsed 28 round-trippers in each of the past three seasons. His multi-year track record as an upper-echelon four-category impact contributor make it relatively easy for fantasy managers to forecast him as a near-lock to reach the 30-homer mark in his Blue Jays debut and finish next season as a top 25 fantasy outfielder.

Eisert draws the short straw for Toronto with the club needing to free up a 40-man roster spot for marquee free agent acquisition Anthony Santander. The 27-year-old lefty made three scoreless relief appearances last year for the Blue Jays in his first taste of the big leagues.

The Blue Jays needed this one. After coming so close on Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, and Roki Sasaki, the Blue Jays needed to land a premiere talent, and they had no problem paying for it. The total guarantee is reportedly $92.5 million over five years. The 30-year-old Santander is coming off his best season ever, hitting a career-high 44 home runs and driving in 102 runs for the Orioles. He will likely slot in as the primary designated hitter and bat clean-up behind Vladimir Guerero Jr. but will also play some corner outfield. His presence in the middle of the lineup is a huge boost for Toronto, who was set to play Will Wagner as one of the primary designated hitters. The additions of Santander and Andres Gimenez squash a lot of Wagner’s fantasy value, and we should see a bit of regression for Santander as well considering he is now in a worse lineup than he was in last year, and Baltimore ranked 8th among all stadiums in Statcast’s park factor for left-handed power, while Toronto ranks 19th. Since the switch-hitting Santander will face mostly right-handed pitchers, we should expect a return to around 30 home runs with a .240 average and around 170 Runs+RBI. That certainly makes him a solid fantasy asset, but we would not pay for last season’s production.

The market has been slow to develop this winter for the 40-year-old right-hander after registering a 3.95 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and a 40/10 K/BB ratio across 43 1/3 innings in nine starts for the Rangers in 2024. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported in early January that there were four teams interested in Scherzer, though it remains unclear exactly who those teams are that the Jays are competing with for his services.

Nicholson-Smith and Davidi note that talks between the two sides picked up on Friday morning. For what seems like a few weeks now, the Blue Jays have been mentioned as one of the favorites to land either Santander or Alex Bregman, and it sounds like they’re making a strong push to get Santander. The 30-year-old slugger crushed a career-high 44 home runs and drove in 102 runs for the Orioles in 2024 and would provide a major boost to the middle of the Blue Jays’ lineup.

The Jays are taking on a large portion of Straw’s remaining salary (Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi says it’s $11 million) here in order to add some extra international pool money ($2 million, according to Davidi), presumably as part of their bid for Roki Sasaki. Or maybe they already know Sasaki’s answer.... we’ll probably find that out relatively soon. Straw, 30, is owed another $14.75 million over the next two years (including his 2027 buyout) as part of a five-year, $25 million pact agreed to when he was the Guardians’ center fielder. Last season, Straw appeared in seven big-league games, going 1-for-4, and hit .240/.321/.330 in 495 plate appearances in Triple-A. He’s currently off the 40-man, but he might get a chance of making the Jays as a bench player in spring training. It doesn’t look like his bat will ever be respectable again, but he can still play a quality center field and steal bases (32-for-33 last year).

Romero has sources telling him the Padres learned Sasaki would be signing elsewhere. It follows that these deals would be getting done if that’s the case. These two signings are set to take up at least $2 million and maybe closer to $3 million of the Padres’ $6.26 million signing pool. It wouldn’t rule out a Sasaki signing, but the reason those deals weren’t finalized on Jan. 15, as so many international signings were, was because the Padres were waiting to learn if they’d be spending most of their signing pool on Sasaki.

Rosenthal and Sammon add that the Blue Jays are trying to win next season and would move Guerrero to third base with Alonso taking over at first base. SNY’s Andy Martino has indicated that the Mets believe Alonso isn’t coming back to New York and the Blue Jays certainly have the financial flexibility to meet his asking price. Rosenthal and Sammon note that Toronto’s front office hasn’t spoken to Guerrero’s camp since prior to Christmas, but long-term extension talks are expected to accelerate in the coming weeks leading up to Guerrero’s self-imposed February 17 deadline to reach an agreement.

This jives with what Ken Rosenthal reported earlier as well. There were some rumors that the Mets were trying to put together a sizable trade package to pry Vladimir Guerrero Jr. from the Blue Jays; however, it always seemed unlikely Toronto would make that kind of move now. The team will try to extend their star first baseman, but if they are unable to do so then a trade could be possible if they fall out of contention during the 2025 season.

Pete Alonso’s market seems to be filled with plenty of posturing as Scott Boras works to get his client the long-term contract that he wants with the market seemingly unwilling to cooperate. The Mets have reportedly given Alonso a deadline to make up his mind and immediately after that, we get a report that the Blue Jays are interested in the first baseman. It’s possible Toronto could see Alonso as a much-needed power bat to slide into the middle of their lineup, but he would need to be a regular designated hitter with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. locked in at first base. There’s no indication yet if Alonso would agree to give up playing the field, so we’ll take this report with a grain of salt for now.