New York Yankees Predicted to Sign Orioles Free-Agent Anthony Santander

The New York Yankees were recently predicted to steal Anthony Santander from the Baltimore Orioles in free agency.

Oct 2, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander (25) hits a single in the fourth inning against the Kansas City Royals in game two of the Wild Card round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles have been fairly active so far this offseason but have yet to make the splash many are hoping for. 

Coming into the offseason, the Orioles had two of their top players on the free-agent market in Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander. Somewhat surprisingly, both of these players are still available, as the trade market has been heating up a bit since the Winter Meetings. 

For Baltimore, bringing their ace back is still likely a top priority, but they figure to have already replaced Santander with a cheaper player in Tyler O’Neill. 

With the switch-hitting slugger potentially leaving in free agency, he should have plenty of suitors after a 44-home run season. 

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently predicted that Santander will sign with the New York Yankees in free agency. Furthermore, he predicted it would be a five-year, $100 million deal. 

“It's going to be quite the drop from Soto's .419 on-base percentage to Santander's career mark of .307 in that department, but a switch-hitting right fielder who clubbed 44 home runs last season is about as good of a plan for replacing Soto as there could be. Santander is no one-year wonder in the slugging department, either. Since the start of 2022, only Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso and Matt Olson have hit more dingers than Santander's 105.”

While Santander might be a bit one-dimensional at the plate, he would fill a need for the Yankees. So far, New York hasn’t addressed their lineup since they lost Juan Soto in free agency, as their two major moves have been to bring in Max Fried as a free agent and Devin Williams in a trade. 

Since Kyle Tucker is off the table after a recent trade between the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs, that leaves Santander as a very logical choice for the Yankees. 

New York certainly has a desire to add a hitter or two that could utilize the short porch in right field, and as a switch hitter, Santander is capable of helping with that. 

Even though he and Soto are both very different players, the slugger is capable of being a middle of the order hitter for New York. 

As the Yankees look to pivot from Plan A this offseason, Santander is the type of win-now player who makes a lot of sense for them. For the Orioles, while it wouldn’t be ideal for him to sign in their division, they likely don’t want to allocate their money to him with an ace still being a massive need.