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Anthony Santander clubbed 44 home runs in his contract year, as the switch-hitter posted an .814 OPS and drove in a career-high 102 runs. Santander was an All-Star for the first time in his career and won a Silver Slugger.
We’ve projected that the slugger—who turned 30 in October—will land a five-year, $101 million contract in free agency. He earned it with such a massive power output in his walk year.
With all that acknowledged, there’s not a ton of margin for error with Santander, especially given that any team that signs him other than the Orioles will have to surrender draft compensation by virtue of him being saddled with a qualifying offer by Baltimore.
If he’s hitting 30-35 home runs per year while driving in around 100 runs, Santander provides a lot of value. But he’s also a career .246 hitter, and while he doesn’t strike out as much as most power hitters, he also has never walked more than 58 times in a season.
Santander’s defensive metrics have been a mixed bag over his career, but according to FanGraphs he posted minus-7 defensive runs saved and minus-2 outs above average this past season in right field.