Anthony Santander makes feelings clear on Orioles offer after signing $92.5M deal with Blue Jays

Anthony Santander spent eight years with the Baltimore Orioles since making his MLB debut with the team in 2017. Santander produced the best season of his career in 2024, winning his first All-Star Game selection as well as a Silver Slugger award.

With this, he placed himself among the top free agents of this offseason. When a deal with the Orioles did not materialize, Santander signed with the Toronto Blue Jays on a five-year, $92.5 million deal.

On Thursday, The Baltimore Sun reporter Jacob Calvin Meyer interviewed Anthony Santander at the Blue Jays spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida. He opened up on his chances of rejoining the Orioles as a free agent.

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"Nah. Zero chance. Zero chance at all," Santander said. "They make an offer, but it wasn’t even close. We get it. We understand. It’s a business side. Mike [Elias] is really smart about it."

"Toronto just gave me the opportunity," he added.

Santander hit .235/.308/.506 during the regular season last year with 71 extra-base hits, 102 RBIs, and 301 total bases with an OPS+ of 134. His tally of 44 runs is the most by a switch-hitter in the past two decades.

Anthony Santander comments on the Blue Jays clubhouse

Anthony Santander played eight years for the Baltimore Orioles (Image Source: IMAGN)

Even though Anthony Santander came into the offseason on the back of a highly impressive campaign, he did not generate as much interest among the major leagues as was initially expected. On the other hand, the Toronto Blue Jays were desperate to make a splash in the free agent market after losing out on the Juan Soto sweepstakes earlier in the offseason.

Santander underlined his reasons for joining the Blue Jays while addressing reporters at a team media event on Tuesday.

"They have a pretty good team. They want to win, and they want to get back to the playoffs. It's important to me to make that move," Santander said. "There's a winning mentality. The city is great. The environment at Rogers Center is amazing.

"I'm going to bring what I learned in Baltimore the last two years, being in the playoffs, and share that with my new brothers here," he added.

The five-year, $92.5 million deal contains an opt-out clause for Santander after the fourth season. The deal also has a club option for a sixth year that could raise the total value up to $110 million.

About the author

Paranjoy Goswami (Bobo) is a baseball reporter at Sportskeeda with over 10 years of experience writing with publications such as Eagle Bet, India Bet and Paradine.

He has provided full coverage, match previews and betting tips on major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup, English Premier League, German Bundesliga, ICC World Cup, Indian Premier League and several others.

Bobo grew up supporting the Red Sox but has also been on the Phillies bandwagon for the past couple of years. He also roots for the St. Louis Cardinals and Seattle Mariners.

While he hasn't played much baseball, Bobo's fascination with the sport started with an 8-bit Nintendo game, where he picked up the basic rules. He started watching live MLB matches on TV about 20 years ago and his love for baseball just grew by leaps and bounds from then on.

Bobo's favorite player was probably Tim Wakefield as not only was he the best knuckleball pitcher of his time, but he was also a Red Sox legend, an outstanding team player and a great human being. Among the current generation, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper get the nod.

Bobo's favorite moment in baseball history was when the Red Sox beat the Yankees before breaking their World Series curse in 2004. That said, Jackie Robinson's breaking the color barrier was the most important.

Outside of baseball, Bobo's interests include literature, comics, world history, science fiction, satire, classic movies, PC games, pets, playing sports, cycling, traveling, sightseeing and quiet reflection.

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Edited by Ruth John S