Blue Jays Receive Harsh Criticism For 31-Year-Old's ...

By Shaun McAvoy

Contributing Sports Writer

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The Toronto Blue Jays are no strangers to pursuing top free agents in free agency.

The Blue Jays made one of the biggest acquisitions of the early offseason, agreeing to terms with 29-year-old hurler Dylan Cease on a seven-year, $210 million contract, as reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan. This isn't the first time that Toronto has signed a top free agent in recent years. Last offseason, the Blue Jays signed All-Star Anthony Santander to a five-year, $92 million contract, according to Spotrac.

Fans will hope that the reported Cease signing does not turn out the same way that Santander's signing has. The 31-year-old outfielder struggled heavily in his first season with the Blue Jays, slashing .175/.271/.294 with six home runs and 18 RBIs.

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In a ranking of some of the worst contracts in baseball, The Athletic's Cody Stavenhagen dubbed Santander's contract the fourth-worst in the league.

“The Blue Jays have chased many big-ticket free agents hard in recent years,” Stavenhagen wrote Monday. “Most of them chose to sign elsewhere (though Dylan Cease recently joined up on a long-term deal). Santander took Toronto’s money. But the Blue Jays made the World Series largely in spite of Santander’s first season in Canada. Santander played only 54 games in his age-30 season. Left shoulder inflammation plagued him for most of the season, and a back injury even made for a premature end to his postseason.

“Santander has a chance to rebound if he can stay healthy in 2026. But his lifetime on-base percentage is only .305, and he provides little defensive value. It’s a risky profile and one the Blue Jays might be stuck with for the next four seasons. The deferred money makes it a bit easier to swallow for now. But it will feel worse in the future if Santander can’t turn it around.”

Santander missed a majority of the 2025 season dealing with various injuries, but still was not performing well before that. After spending the first eight seasons of his career with the Baltimore Orioles, he struggled in his first season with a new team.

The 31-year-old outfielder is under team control through the 2030 season, with a player option in 2028 and a club option in 2030. Santander will look to bounce back next season after missing most of the Blue Jays' postseason run.

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