{"id":91606,"date":"2024-12-09T11:58:13","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T16:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=91606"},"modified":"2024-12-09T12:17:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T17:17:08","slug":"anthony-santander-blue-jays-red-sox-yankees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/09\/anthony-santander-blue-jays-red-sox-yankees\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays Scrambling for Power-Hitting Outfielder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=sotoju01,soto--004jua&amp;search=Juan+Soto&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Juan Soto<\/a> now off the market, attention is shifting to other highly sought-after outfielders, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/santaan02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Santander<\/a>. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jonmorosi\/status\/1866151947473920392\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MLB Insider Jon Morosi<\/a>, the switch-hitting slugger is reportedly drawing interest from a trio of American League East clubs &#8211; the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees &#8211; all of whom are looking to add some punch to their lineups. Santander&#8217;s impressive power numbers, including 44 home runs this season (the fifth-most by a switch-hitter in MLB history), make him an attractive target for teams seeking to bolster their offense.<\/p>\n<h2>AL East Teams Eyeing Anthony Santander<\/h2>\n<p>The Blue Jays have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/springe01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">George Springer<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/varshda01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daulton Varsho<\/a> as the two established big leaguers in their outfield. However, Springer is now 35 as his wRC+ has hit a decline for five consecutive years. Even his presence in right field could be a roadblock to a Santander signing, though they could form a right field\/DH combo to make it work. Santander has also started 75 games in left field during his career &#8211; half of them as recently as 2022 &#8211; opening another possibility. Varsho underwent <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/09\/19\/bo-bichette-season-ending-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">shoulder surgery in September<\/a> and it&#8217;s certain he will miss the opening of the 2025 season. There are internal options including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lukesna01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nathan Lukes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/loperjo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joey Loperfido<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/clasejo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonatan Clase<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/schneda03.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Davis Schneider<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bargead01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Addison Barger<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/berrost01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steward Berroa<\/a> as outfield options on the 40-man roster.<\/p>\n<p>Either way, the Blue Jays are in the market for a bat, making Santander a potential fit. They are also in the mix for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hernate01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a>, though they prefer the switch-hitting Santander.<\/p>\n<h3>Yankees Need to Replace Soto&#8217;s Bat<\/h3>\n<p>With JSoto now a member of the New York Mets, the Yankees are likely to explore alternative options to bolster their lineup. One potential target is Santander, who could provide a powerful bat behind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/judgeaa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Judge<\/a> in the outfield. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BRWalkoff\/status\/1865129156536569951\/video\/1\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jon Heyman of The New York Post<\/a>, the Yankees were one of eight teams to express interest in Santander at the beginning of November. This early interest suggests that the Yankees may have already identified Santander as a viable alternative to Soto. If signed, Santander could help mitigate the loss of Soto and provide a formidable one-two punch alongside Judge in the Yankees&#8217; lineup.<\/p>\n<h3>Red Sox Interested in Two Outfielders<\/h3>\n<p>The Red Sox have Hern\u00e1ndez in their sights for a second offseason in a row. They made the outfielder a multi-year offer last winter, but he signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The decision paid off for Hernandez, who now has a World Series ring. While his right-handed bat could help Boston&#8217;s lineup, the Dodgers have stated that re-signing him is their priority this offseason. If Hern\u00e1ndez returns to Los Angeles, the Red Sox may consider alternative options like Santander. It seems unlikely he will reunite with the Baltimroe Orioles now that they&#8217;ve signed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=oneilty01,oneill002tyl,oneill001tyl&amp;search=Tyler+O'Neill&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler O&#8217;Neill<\/a> to a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/07\/tyler-oneill-signs-orioles\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">three-year contract<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Feinsand\/status\/1865852380568297699\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MLB.com&#8217;s Mark Feinsand<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/08\/dodgers-slugger-rumored-red-sox\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Boston&#8217;s interest in Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> remains strong, which could impact their pursuit of Santander.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo: \u00a9 David Butler II-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With Juan Soto now off the market, attention is shifting to other highly sought-after outfielders, including Anthony Santander. According to MLB Insider Jon Morosi, the switch-hitting slugger is reportedly drawing interest from a trio of American League East clubs &#8211; the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees &#8211; all of whom [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3686,"featured_media":91607,"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":[2,1071],"tags":[501,2824,3315,548,2133,1198,1978],"class_list":["post-91606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-mlb","tag-aaron-judge","tag-anthony-santander","tag-daulton-varsho","tag-george-springer","tag-juan-soto","tag-teoscar-hernandez","tag-tyler-oneill"],"modified_by":"Matt Graves","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91606","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\/3686"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91606"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91611,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91606\/revisions\/91611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}