Top 10 Landing Spots for Orioles OF Anthony Santander in MLB Free Agency

It probably should be a bigger deal that a 44-homer slugger is just casually sitting there on MLB's free-agent market.

What's more, it might not even cost nine figures for a team to sign Anthony Santander.

He was plenty good for the Baltimore Orioles before 2024, hitting 61 home runs with a .785 OPS across 2022 and 2023. But he was apparently saving his best work for this season, as he finished with the aforementioned 44 bombs, 102 runs batted in and a .814 OPS.

There's no better time for a guy to have a career year than in his walk year. And unless the market shuns him for whatever reason, the 30-year-old stands to benefit.

Let's take a deeper dive into Santander's value as a free agent, and then get to speculating about his 10 best landing spots.

Because Juan Soto is also out there, it's impossible to argue for Santander as the best hitter available this winter.

He does, however, offer perhaps the best balance between upside and affordability.

The switch-hitter's 105 home runs since 2022 are the third-most of anyone. And by OPS+, he's been 25 percent better than the average hitter in this span.

Despite what his .246 average and .307 OBP suggest, Santander isn't merely a one-note slugger. He and Yordan Alvarez were the only two hitters who were in the top 25 percent for whiff rate and barrel rate in 2024.

As to the real strikes against Santander, his minus-13 Outs Above Average can attest that he isn't an especially good right fielder. And according to Statcast, he overperformed his expected home run output more than any other hitter in 2024.

Because he rejected his qualifying offer from the Orioles, there are now penalties associated with signing Santander. Whichever team signs him will lose at least one pick in the 2025 draft, and possibly another pick in addition to money from its international bonus pool for the upcoming signing period.

Santander's profile is nonetheless similar to those of Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos when they entered the market after the 2021 season. The former got four years, $80 million. The latter got five years, $100 million.

Even cash-strapped teams like the Cleveland Guardians, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners could get in on Santander at the low end of that range. But like B/R's Tim Kelly did, I'm assuming he will end up in the nine-figure range.

Without further delay, let's rank 10 potential suitors for Santander based on how much sense they make for him.

All 2025 right fielder projections are courtesy of RosterResource at FanGraphs.

10. Chicago Cubs

2024 Record: 83-79, T-2nd in NL Central

Projected 2025 Right Fielder: Cody Bellinger

The Cubs have a few guys with 20-homer power, but no big bopper who's likely to give them 30-plus long balls. As such, Santander should interest them.

This is purely speculative, however, and there is the question of how he would fit on the North Side. Be it Bellinger or Seiya Suzuki, the Cubs would have to trade one of their right field candidates to clear space for him.

9. Boston Red Sox

2024 Record: 81-81, 3rd in AL East

Projected 2025 Right Fielder: Wilyer Abreu

This is where we get into teams that could turn to Santander as a Plan B if they miss out on Soto. And as serious as they seem to be about Soto, it's hard to imagine the Red Sox actually closing the deal.

And yet, Santander isn't a special case like Soto is. If they can't get Soto, their best move will involve pivoting to some combination of right-handed bats (i.e., Teoscar Hernández or Willy Adames) and ace hurlers (i.e., Corbin Burnes, Max Fried or Blake Snell).

8. Los Angeles Dodgers

2024 Record: 98-64, 1st in NL West

Projected 2025 Right Fielder: James Outman

The Dodgers are also in on Soto, and nobody doubts that they're a legitimate threat. They obviously have the finances, and Soto just got an up-close look at their winning ways in October.

But if the Dodgers don't get Soto, what are the chances they simply bring back Hernández instead? Probably high. They know what he can do and that he wants to come back.

7. New York Mets

2024 Record: 89-73, T-2nd in NL East

Projected 2025 Right Fielder: Starling Marte

Now we're talking. New York Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay says the Mets are willing to beat any other offer for Soto by $50 million. If so, Soto and agent Scott Boras will basically have their Godfather moment.

Should the Mets miss out on Soto, however, Santander would be an easy Plan B. And he wouldn't necessarily have to supplant Marte in right field, as the Mets could just as easily slot him in at designated hitter.

6. New York Yankees

2024 Record: 94-68, 1st in NL East

Projected 2025 Right Fielder: Aaron Judge

The Yankees have checked in on Santander, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He'd be a terrific fit at Yankee Stadium, as much of his power is channeled to right field as a lefty hitter.

Mind you, Heyman also notes that Santander is merely a backup plan if the Yankees can't retain Soto. This basically puts them in the same boat as the Mets, and the risk for both is that Santander will sign before Soto's market is settled.

2024 Record: 80-82, 4th in NL West

Projected 2025 Right Fielder: Mike Yastrzemski

It's the offseason, so we simply must consider the Giants for any star slugger who's up for bids.

Though San Francisco has enjoyed solid home run-hitting collectives in recent years, you have to go back to Barry Bonds in 2004 to find the last time one of its guys topped 30 homers.

If that factoid is notorious, the same goes for the Giants' failed efforts to find someone to finally end the streak. Among those who have spurned them are Giancarlo Stanton, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani.

They may have a shot at Soto, but it would seem to be of the long variety. Santander is a more practical target. And even if they have to overbid for him, well, so be it. The Giants are projected to spend $51 million less in 2025 than they did in 2024.

There's a problem, however. Actually, three.

For one, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reported the Giants are likely to scale back payroll in 2025. For two, they are a luxury-tax payor for 2024 and would thus have to give up two draft picks plus $1 million in international bonus money to sign Santander.

For three, president of baseball operations Buster Posey has spoken about wanting to build an offense that can "pressure the other teams in multiple ways other than waiting for the long ball."

That approach doesn't square with Santander, who would have every right to balk at joining the Giants anyway. San Francisco is mightily expensive, and no stadium is less friendly to sluggers than Oracle Park.

2024 Record: 91-71, 2nd in AL East

Projected 2025 Right Fielder: Heston Kjerstad

Why close the door on Santander returning to the Orioles when said door is being kept open?

This is the message Baltimore GM Mike Elias imparted via Jon Morosi of MLB Network on November 7:

From a purely baseball perspective, Santander and the Orioles still fit each other quite well.

He's a sure-thing slugger for an offense that has built its brand on hitting home runs. And while the jury is out on whether the latest change to the left field dimensions at Oriole Park at Camden Yards would help his right-handed stroke, he knows as well as anyone that it's a fine place for his left-handed stroke.

The money is where things get complicated. The Orioles have spent the last six seasons in the bottom third of MLB in payroll. And right now, the gap between their 2024 spending and projected 2025 payroll is only $3 million wide.

However, owner David Rubenstein and his estimated $4 billion net worth are standing by. And Elias sounded bullish earlier in November: "[If] we have something that we want to do and we need financial support for it, I'm exceedingly confident that that's going to be there."

But is re-signing or replacing Santander the priority in Baltimore?

It doesn't seem like it. The door is open, but comments from Elias and reporting from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic point to starting pitching as the No. 1 area of focus right now.

2024 Record: 86-76, T-2nd in AL Central

Projected 2025 Right Fielder: Matt Vierling

Though the Tigers ended up being a pleasant surprise this year, they must have one imperative for the offseason: Please, please fix the dang offense.

They were better at pushing runs across in 2024, but they still only ranked ninth in the AL in scoring and 12th in home runs. The latter was especially more of the same, as Detroit hasn't ranked higher than 12th among AL clubs in homers since 2016.

Santander would be a godsend in this respect, and it hardly strains belief to think he might be within Detroit's budget.

"We don't chase payroll thresholds. We chase talent," said president of baseball operations Scott Harris in October. "If there's a talented player we have a conviction on that fits how we play, and fits our clubhouse and he costs money, we are going to pursue them aggressively."

The Tigers are projected to spend $80 million in 2025. That is chump change in a vacuum, and that much more so in context of where this organization has gone previously. It opened just south of $200 million with its payrolls in 2016 and 2017.

Harris specifically wants right-handed hitting, however. And even though the Tigers aren't a luxury-tax payor like the Giants, they're in the same boat vis-à-vis Santander in another way.

Namely, their home park is a rotten attraction for power hitters. Comerica Park isn't as unfriendly as Oracle Park, but it's still a bottom-10 place for home runs even despite the more forgiving dimensions that went into place in 2023.

2024 Record: 71-91, 4th in NL East

Projected 2025 Right Fielder: Dylan Crews

There's at least one good reason for the Nationals to be interested in Santander, and it has to do with the number 135.

That's how many home runs they hit this season. It was pitiful. So pitiful, in fact, that Santander's Orioles were one of two teams that cleared that total by 100.

As for whether the Nationals could get involved with Santander, let's just say it's plausible.

Though they didn't improve in the win column from 2023 to 2024, the vibes got a lot better this year. CJ Abrams and Luis García Jr. had breakout years on the infield. James Wood had a late-season breakout of his own in the outfield, and Dylan Crews (B/R's No. 2 prospect) also arrived late in the year.

As for what comes next, this was Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo in September: "I think we need to improve ourselves in any avenue we can. Free agency will certainly be one of the avenues that we'll attack to improve."

He said this in response to a question of whether the team is specifically ready for a Jayson Werth-style splash. That would be ambitious, but also doable.

The Nationals are only projected to spend $87 million in 2025. That puts them a little higher than the Tigers, but this is another organization whose high-water mark for payroll is way up there. At their peak, Washington opened the 2019 season with a $197.2 million payroll.

Nationals Park, meanwhile, basically plays as neutral to home run hitters. So, if Santander did turn them away, it won't necessarily be because he doesn't want to hit there.

Rather, it could be because he will have gotten a better offer.

2024 Record: 74-88, 5th in AL East

Projected 2025 Right Fielder: George Springer

Back in 2021, nobody could have predicted the Blue Jays would be just three years away from needing a power bat in the worst way.

And yet, here we are. Whereas Toronto led MLB with 262 homers in 2021, this season saw it send just 156 balls over the fence.

If anything can be inferred from the Blue Jays' purportedly serious pursuit of Soto, they know they need to fix this. And as long as the money is right, nobody could fault Soto for jumping at a chance to team up with a fellow mid-20s superstar in Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

But, come on, does anyone actually anticipate the Blue Jays signing Soto?

Though they have the apparent advantage of not being a luxury-tax payor, their spending in free agency ($1.2 billion) since 1991 pales in comparison to the Mets ($2.2 billion), Dodgers ($2.9 billion) and Yankees ($3.7 billion).

Historically, the $100-150 million range (i.e., Kevin Gausman to George Springer) is more Toronto's speed when it comes to big spending. Santander is a better fit just in this regard.

Beyond simply needing his power, it could use his track record against AL East foes. He has 16 career homers each against Boston and New York, also topping a .800 OPS against both clubs this year.

Further, doing a $100 million deal with Santander in lieu of a $600 million deal with Soto would hypothetically leave a lot left over to extend Guerrero. And with free agency set to beckon him after 2025, the Blue Jays need to get onto that.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.