Jon Heyman shared details of Anthony Santander’s Blue Jays contract.
He gets:
- A $13.5 million signing bonus. $6.75 of that is deferred.
- Year one: $13.5 million, $10 million deferred.
- Year two and three: $16.5 million. $10 million deferred.
- Year four: $14.74 million, $10 million deferred.
- Year five: $12.75 million, $10 million deferred.
- Club Option for 2030: $15 million, $5 million buyout, deferred.
There is also a player opt-out after 2027. The team can void the opt-out by promising the club option year. However, if they do, the base salary for 2028 goes to $17.25 million, 2029 jumps to $15.25 million, and the option year increases to $17.5 million.
No wonder the negotiations took so long.
There is a ton of deferred money ($61.75 million, not counting the option year). The CBT average yearly value is $13.7 million, which makes it seem like a fairly inexpensive deal.
Also, Daulton Varsho is giving Santander his jersey number 25 and will take #5 this year.
Also:
- Brandon Eisert (DFAed for Santander) has been traded to the Rays for ‘cash considerations’.
- The Jays signed catcher Christian Bethancourt and left-handed pitcher Richard Lovelady to minor league contracts with spring training invites. We will need a backup catcher, so Bethancourt has a good chance of making the team unless someone else is signed.
- The team is talking to free agent first baseman Pete Alonso, which, I’d imagine, would mean we’d see a lot of Vlad at third base.