{"id":89808,"date":"2024-11-16T11:58:38","date_gmt":"2024-11-16T16:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=89808"},"modified":"2024-12-28T10:32:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T15:32:08","slug":"silver-slugger-anthony-santander-new-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/11\/16\/silver-slugger-anthony-santander-new-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Silver Slugger Coming Off Best Career Season Looking For New Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anthony Santander<\/a>, fresh off his first career All-Star appearance, is hitting the free agency market, looking for a big-time contract.<\/p>\n

Silver Slugger Coming Off Best Career Season Looking For New Deal<\/h2>\n

After being claimed by the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft in 2016, Santander had a shaky first few seasons. But, following his best season yet, Santander, 30, will hit the free agent market looking to cash in. The Orioles extended a qualifying offer to Santander and would love to bring him back<\/a>. However, many teams will be vying for his services.<\/p>\n

Santander’s 2024 Season<\/h3>\n

For Anthony Santander, following up his breakout 2023 season with an even better year was going to be tough, but he managed to find a way. Although Santander started off the year slowly<\/a>, he turned it around very quickly. In June and July combined, Santander hit 22 home runs. During this stretch, Santander was hitting a home run once every 9.5 at-bats. Also, this period earned him a spot in his first career all-star game, in which he went 1-2.<\/p>\n

Then, while the Orioles offense floundered<\/a> during the last two months of the season, Santander did not. In the second half of 2024, Santander had a .858 OPS and crushed 20 homeruns. That includes a big-time home run in late August that gave the Orioles some life.<\/p>\n

Throughout the season, Santander had many clutch moments, which is a big reason why he routinely hit third in a loaded Orioles lineup. Santander finished the season with 44 home runs and 102 RBI, both of which were top 15 in MLB. Additionally, Santander earned a Silver Slugger award because of his strong season. Although he went just 1-8 over the Orioles’ two playoff games, Santander’s big-time power and reliable fielding make him an attractive option for many teams this offseason.<\/p>\n

Will Santander Stay In Baltimore?<\/h3>\n

Remaining in Baltimore is 100 percent a possibility for Santander.<\/p>\n

From the Oriole’s perspective, it makes sense to retain him. Santander was as reliable a player could be this past season. Plus, the archetype of Santander is a valuable one. A consistent switch-hitting power hitter who does more than just hit home runs does not describe many players.<\/p>\n

Santander is truly one of a kind, and his price is very reasonable. Santander will command anywhere from 20-25 million per year for a 5 or 6-year contract. For the Orioles, who have the potential to increase payroll with a new owner, that deal is very reasonable.<\/p>\n

Also, staying in Baltimore would be a good move for Santander, assuming he is paid what he deserves. Remaining in Baltimore would give him a chance to be a high-level player on a World Series team. Additionally, Santander survived the long rebuilding years, and staying through with the Orioles in hopes of a championship could give him a satisfying end to an incredible story.<\/p>\n

Other Potential Landing Spots<\/h3>\n

Besides the Orioles, other small-market teams have been rumored to show interest in Santander.<\/p>\n

The Washington Nationals, who are building a solid young core, seem poised to take a run at Santander. They still have yet to fill the void Juan Soto<\/a> left, and Santander would be a perfect piece to slide in. It would be a similar situation to the Orioles for Santander, as he would be the veteran in a young clubhouse.<\/p>\n

Also, the Cincinnati Reds have been rumored to have an interest in Santander. It’s a new vibe in Cincinnati, as they bring in a new manager<\/a>, Terry Francona. Adding Santander, who may be able to eclipse 50 home runs while playing for the Reds because of their hitters-friendly ballpark, would be an excellent first move. He would nicely round out their core of solid players and give them a real chance to compete.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credits: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anthony Santander, fresh off his first career All-Star appearance, is hitting the free agency market, looking for a big-time contract. Silver Slugger Coming Off Best Career Season Looking For New Deal After being claimed by the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft in 2016, Santander had a shaky first few seasons. But, following his best […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5137,"featured_media":89822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,28,1071,35,19],"tags":[2824,2133,2262],"class_list":["post-89808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-orioles","category-reds","category-mlb","category-news","category-nationals","tag-anthony-santander","tag-juan-soto","tag-mlb-free-agency"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}