Anthony Santander 2024

[Safelykept]

2 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

DC is a FA.

Soto and Dominguez are interesting decisions.

SA is do 8M next year. Soto is under team control and likely looking at a salary in the 6.5M range.  

In some ways, they sound like overpays for each. OTOH, they miss bats, can be high leverage guys and you don’t have long term commitments with either.

As of now, I lean towards keeping both. I would like to re-sign DC depending on the contract.

But I would still like to add another power arm. Now, that power arm could be an unproven close to ML ready prospect you get for Mullins or Mounty or OHearn. It doesn’t have to be someone you sign to a major deal. There may also be some ML relievers available for trade that makes sense.

We see these teams all the time that just seemingly have power arm after power arm and we don’t have that. Elias has failed to address the pen properly imo and really, we don’t know if Felix will be the 2023 Felix going forward. 

The pen has to be seen as a priority this year. 
 

I want to see resources poured into the pitching staff and the improvement of the defense. 

Maybe i moved to early on DC, but Bref  shows his contact status with a 2025 team option. SA and Soto are both overpays, but potentially really good options in a reduced role, another power arm would require them to move on from one of SA or Soto, unless youre looking to upgrade Akin or Bowman. Perez will be back.

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, Safelykept said:

Maybe i moved to early on DC, but Bref  shows his contact status with a 2025 team option. SA and Soto are both overpays, but potentially really good options in a reduced role, another power arm would require them to move on from one of SA or Soto, unless youre looking to upgrade Akin or Bowman. Perez will be back.

Sorry that’s right about DC. MLBTR has him listed as a FA and I was just looking at that list.

[Safelykept]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

Sorry that’s right about DC. MLBTR has him listed as a FA and I was just looking at that list.

Yeah,no reason to be sorry , it kinda changes the whole narrative on next years BP

[Jim'sKid26]

So if you define "power arm" as guys who throw 97+ mph, the 2025 bullpen may have 5 guys who can hit 97. Two are from the left side. 

Felix, assuming healthy, usually velocity comes back

Seranthony

Soto

Perez

Cano* (baseball savant says his 4SFB is 96.6 mph)

You probably need one long guy, (does he have to throw 97?), and you have to decide what to do with Suarez. 

If you have a 7 man pen you are running out of spots at the MLB level. Now I know injuries happen so...

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Jim'sKid26

[Sports Guy]

Just now, Jim'sKid26 said:

So if you define "power arm" as guys who throw 97+ mph, the 2025 bullpen may have 5 guy who can hit 97. Two are from the left side. 

Felix, assuming healthy, usually velocity comes back

Seranthony

Soto

Perez

Cano* (baseball savant says his 4SFB is 96.6 mph)

You probably need one long guy, (does he have to throw 97?), and you have to decide what to do with Suarez. 

If you have a 7 man pen you are running out of spots at the MLB level. Now I know injuries happen so...

 

We need guys that miss bats and get Ks. Good command as well.

Whether they throw 92 or 98, I guess I don’t really care as long as they do those things.

 

[Jim'sKid26]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

We need guys that miss bats and get Ks. Good command as well.

Whether they throw 92 or 98, I guess I don’t really care as long as they do those things.

 

I agree. But you said power arms and didn't define the term. Just looking to clarify....

[TommyPickles]

Would you offer Santander 4 years, $80 million?

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Mullins is a decision because of his age and service time. He has one year left. As of right now, he would be a shaky guy to offer a QO to. Like Santander, that could change next year and become more obvious.

So, do you keep him for next year and be happy with potentially losing him after next year for nothing?

And do you feel he will continue this resurgence and be good next year? 
 

Im very skeptical of his offense but agree the defense is very important.
 

Besides Robert, I’m not sure what trade options could be there.

Mullins also may get us some value in other areas that we need and/or give us some much needed MiL depth, especially on the mound. 

Personally, I think Mullins is the perfect bridge to hopefully Bradfield taking over as full time CF in 2026. Or Cowser goes out there, but I think Cowser will slow with age making him a better fit in LF longterm.

As for Santander, as much as the glow from his walkoff homerun and his 40 plus bombs wants to tug at the heart strings, he's absolutely a bad investment at this stage in his career, especially with Kjerstad ready to take over RF.

[casadeozo]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Santander is a low OBP, poor BA, mediocre fielder with very little base running value player.  

He has great power and can carry a team. He’s a really good dude, solid in the clubhouse and a great representative for your franchise.

In many ways, he is exactly like Trumbo even if he is the better player.  And even if he doesn’t fall off as dramatically as Trumbo did, he’s still very likely to fall off. 
 

For what he will cost, you can bring in some solid pitching.

Next years offense, barring any trades, should look something like this:

1st-Mayo, 2nd- Holliday, SS- Gunnar, 3rd- Westburg

C- Adley

OF- Kjerstad and Cowser

Basallo potentially ready by midseason or so.

That leaves you with decisions on Mountcastle, Mullins and OHearn and I guess Santander.

You need to get right handed. Mounty is a righty but unless you are moving Mayo to the OF, you need him to play first. Do you keep Mounty around to be a 1st/DH if Mayo is also going to play the OF?  Maybe.

Some RH bats to consider:

Tyler O’Neill. Having a really nice year.  Strong arm in the OF but struggles out there otherwise. Not a great fit for OPACY LF.

JD Martinez: Still can hit but zero versatility. In a game that values that, do you want to sign someone who doesn’t give you any?  On the Os, it may be ok but I tend to doubt they would.

Duvall: Good defensive player. Abysmal with the bat this year but was very good last year. buy low guy who could provide some bench value.

Robert: Been awful this year and had injury issues in the past. WS have already said they will trim payroll after this year. There are very few ways for them to do that, especially since Benintendi has no value. Robert will be made available. Great spend, very good in the OF and still a tremendous offensive upside. He will cost a lot less to acquire than last offseason.  The Os reportedly were interested in him before. Teams like the Dodgers and Mariners were linked to him at the deadline. There will be competition for him and maybe the Os don’t have the same depth to trade out of that they did in the past, so it may be tough but they should look into it.

JD Martinez and O’Neill are intriguing. 
 

I think I’d rather have O’Neill over Santander. Younger and significantly more patient batter. 
 

Robert would be number one of these options but I just don’t see Getz being realistic with his value. 

[Spy Fox]

6 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Personally, I think Mullins is the perfect bridge to hopefully Bradfield taking over as full time CF in 2026. Or Cowser goes out there, but I think Cowser will slow with age making him a better fit in LF longterm.

As for Santander, as much as the glow from his walkoff homerun and his 40 plus bombs wants to tug at the heart strings, he's absolutely a bad investment at this stage in his career, especially with Kjerstad ready to take over RF.

Mayo and Basallo in the mix for DH time also pushes Santander out.

Cowser/Mullins/Kjerstad is an outfield with some question marks though. Not sure who's available, but I could see them targeting an outfielder in FA who is cheaper, a serviceable but not MOO-type bat, and a little more defensively flexible than Santander. Dare I say an Austin Hays type player. 

[Frobby]

11 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Is he the only player they are allowed to spend on this off-season?

Here’s the thing.  Almost every free agent is around Santander’s age, or older.   So if we’re ruling out paying Santander, are we ruling out signing virtually any high-priced free agent?   Or is there something specific about Santander?   

I have real mixed feelings on this one.  I have a feeling the market will give him too many years and too much money.  But I don’t think it’s likely that Kjerstad etc. will fully or immediately replace his production or his leadership (which is underrated).   So, it’s tricky.   I lean towards letting him walk after offering the QO, but I can see the case for keeping him.  
 

[casadeozo]

20 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Personally, I think Mullins is the perfect bridge to hopefully Bradfield taking over as full time CF in 2026. Or Cowser goes out there, but I think Cowser will slow with age making him a better fit in LF longterm.

As for Santander, as much as the glow from his walkoff homerun and his 40 plus bombs wants to tug at the heart strings, he's absolutely a bad investment at this stage in his career, especially with Kjerstad ready to take over RF.

Great point Tony. Though the outfield does become all left handed losing AS switch hitting. 
 

if we do go this route of an outfield of Kjerstad/Cowser/Mullins, we desperately need to add a RH bat to this lineup. Just far too many lost hitters against lefties (Mullins, Ohearn, Cowser and Holliday)

[Sports Guy]

1 hour ago, TommyPickles said:

Would you offer Santander 4 years, $80 million?

Wouldn’t even consider it. I wouldn’t offer anything more than the QO

[forphase1]

1 hour ago, TommyPickles said:

Would you offer Santander 4 years, $80 million?

Nope.  Too many years.  I agree with giving him the QO and letting him walk.  I might entertain a 2-3 year deal, but that's the most I'd go.

[forphase1]

53 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Here’s the thing.  Almost every free agent is around Santander’s age, or older.   So if we’re ruling out paying Santander, are we ruling out signing virtually any high-priced free agent?   Or is there something specific about Santander?   

I have real mixed feelings on this one.  I have a feeling the market will give him too many years and too much money.  But I don’t think it’s likely that Kjerstad etc. will fully or immediately replace his production or his leadership (which is underrated).   So, it’s tricky.   I lean towards letting him walk after offering the QO, but I can see the case for keeping him.  
 

The age is certainly part of it.  But the larger part is he only hits home runs, and don't bring anything else tangible to the team.  Doesn't get on base well, doesn't have speed on the basepaths and plays a below average outfield.  Power wise he's very good and solid, at least this year which is an outlier compared to his others, but there is nothing else he does well.  He does have the advantage of being a switch hitter which is a big bonus, especially with Hyde and his obsession with lefty/righty matchups, but that only goes so far.  If he brought more to the table, then the age wouldn't matter as much, as if the power drops off he could be helpful in other ways.  But he doesn't, and that's the main reason I wouldn't sign him to a deal.  Age is A factor, but for me the type of player he is contributes more.  

I agree that the market will give him too many years.  I don't care about the money so much, but I think anything beyond a couple 2-3 years is a bad idea.  I want to see us spend, but I want to see us spend wisely.  No more Davis/Trumbo type deals.  Spend the money on players that deserve it, not one dimensional players who are very likely to age poorly.  Santander was a great success story and it was one of the best rule V picks ever.  But it's time to let some other team pay for his decline, as I really don't see a Cruz type future for him.