NL East Contender Linked As Threat to Steal Baltimore Orioles' Star

A National League East contender could look to steal a Baltimore Orioles' star this offseason.

Aug 4, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Baltimore Orioles right fielder Anthony Santander (25) runs home to score a run during the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. / David Dermer-USA TODAY Sports

Looking ahead to the MLB offseason, the Baltimore Orioles are facing a real possibility that they could lose two of their current stars.

Both starting pitcher Corbin Burnes and outfielder Anthony Santander are set to hit the open free agency market. Plenty of teams around the league will have interest in stealing them away from the Orioles.

Taking a closer look at Santander, there are a lot of teams around baseball that will be searching for outfield upgrades and adding big bats to their lineups.

One of those teams is none other than the New York Mets.

Bleacher Report recently took a look at Santander's upcoming free agency. They believe that a handful of teams are potential threats to steal him away from Baltimore. One of them is the Mets.

Here's a short snippet of their breakdown of Santander:

"Even if it's not from the O's, Santander should make out well in free agency. He's on track for his first 40-home run season. Teams may view 2024 as a relative outlier, but he averaged 31 home runs and 92 RBI between 2022 and 2023, so his track record as a run producer is hardly confined to just one year."

During the 2024 MLB season thus far, Santander has played in 129 games with the Orioles. He has hit 38 home runs to go along with 86 RBI. In addition to those numbers, he has been batting .236/.305/.514.

His production is going to make Santander one of the most sought-after free agents on the market.

As for Baltimore, the team would likely love to bring him back. However, there are real questions about how they're going to keep their core together long-term. A lot of money will need to be spent on quite a few players.

Unfortunately, that could lead the Orioles to making some tough decisions. They may not be able to afford to bring Santander back. The same could be said for Burnes.

It will be interesting to see how the offseason goes for Santander and Baltimore. There's still a chance that he could be back in 2025, but there's a long list of teams already starting to line up as potential suitors for him.

Keep a very close eye on New York as one of those threats. The Mets want to get back to World Series contention and they'll do whatever they can to make that happen.