Anthony Santander 2024

[DrinkinWithFermi]

39 minutes ago, TommyPickles said:

Alright, so seems like the consensus on here is "No" to 4/80. 

Let's keep the bidding going, would you say yes to 3 years, $55 million?

That would be about 18 million each for his age 30, 31, and 32 seasons.

This year's qualifying offer is like $21.2 million.

I think he easily surpasses 3/$55 million in this year's market, so it's kind of a moot point.

"QO, take it or leave it" is still my final answer.

[Can_of_corn]

11 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I’m just saying that just because you are in great shape, doesn’t mean you will age well.
I thought it would be a big help to Davis and it wasn’t.

I don't think Davis continued to put in the same level of effort on his fitness after he signed the huge deal.

 

[LookitsPuck]

If you can get him on a 3-4 year deal at $20m or less, it's interesting.

But here's the rub w/ Santander: yeah, he's a SH. That's great. And he generally has even splits. But he's not great defensively. He reminds me of a SH Nelson Cruz but without the batting average or OBP. I'm not so sure that ages well.

I'd extend the QO and pursue a number of other of other options. 

To me, it's better to get the draft pick and, say, sign a guy like Tyler O'Neill, Joc Pederson, or Jurickson Profar as your DH/OF type and maybe give RF to Kjerstad.

[Ohfan67]

2 hours 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.  
 

This is a good reminder that basically by design free agents are almost always "not worth their price". I think you've posted a number of analyses over the years demonstrating this. After looking at the available free agents and just how bleak the offensive upgrades are, I can see a path where Santander makes some sense. For example, signing Santander or someone like Alonso to play first base along with a trade of Mountcastle would increase the offensive potential of the team for the next couple of years, allow Kjerstad or other young players to take over RF, and ditching Mountcastle's salary would offset part of the cost of signing a free agent. The free agent contract is likely to stink in the final year or two, but that's the case for most of the possible (and realistic) upgrades. As we have seen in the second half, relying on the young players is also a risk. Basallo, Rutschman, Mayo or other internal options may occupy first in a couple of years. Just thinking out loud.