What position will Anthony Santander play for Toronto Blue Jays?
The Toronto Blue Jays officially welcomed Anthony Santander into the mix on Tuesday afternoon, showcasing him in a preliminary press conference to local media.
And with Santander known as “Tony Taters” for his ability to mash home runs, he should make an immediate impact on the Jays offence, putting up 44 dingers for the rival Baltimore Orioles last season.
But while he’ll be in the upper half of the batting order most games — likely in the fourth slot behind some combination of George Springer, Bo Bichette, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — it’s less clear where he’ll play in the field.
Santander has had his struggles defensively, being worth -7 defensive runs saved last season, meaning he cost his Orioles team about seven runs based on his play.
While it’s not the end of the world, the crux of the issue is Toronto already has a bit of a crowded outfield setup, and it might make more sense to keep Santander as a designated hitter.
The majority of Santander’s time in Baltimore saw him play in right field, with 514 of his 746 career games coming at the position. In total, he’s been in the outfield 599 times, been designated 134 times, and played first base 13 times in his career.
Daulton Varsho could be set to miss the start of the season, but he is the team’s top defender and the natural centre fielder when healthy. Springer has been playing right field over the past two seasons since Toronto acquired Varsho, having played just one game in centrefield in 2024.
Meanwhile, Davis Schneider had 73 starts in left field last season, while Varsho, Joey Loperfido, and Nathan Lukes all took turns filling in for the role.
But Santander doesn’t seem to have much of an opinion on the matter, at least publicly.
“I’m gonna play where the skipper’s going to need me,” he said in his opening press conference, as per Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson Smith. “Right field, left field, first base, DH.”
Perhaps the flexibility was one of the reasons Santander was willing to commit five years to a Toronto team that finished in fifth place in the American League East last season with a 74-88 record.
“They have a pretty good team, they want to win and they want to get back to the playoffs,” Santander added, per MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson. “It’s important to me to make that move. There’s a winning mentality. The city is great. The environment at Rogers Centre is amazing. I’m going to bring what I learned in Baltimore the last two years, being in the playoffs, and share that with my new brothers here.”
In any case, John Schneider will have his work cut out for him over the next few months figuring out his ideal lineup card with his new talent.
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