Blue Jays reach deal with Anthony Santander amid ties to Pete Alonso

The Toronto Blue Jays yet landed a high-profile escaped agent.

And it isn’t Pete Alonso.

Power-hitting outfielder Anthony Santander reached a five-year, $92.5 cardinal declaration with Toronto, his bureau announced Monday. An opt-out clause and an escalated enactment proviso could boost the contract’s worth to six years and $110 million, the Beverly Hills Sports Council said.

The summation of Santander, who deed 44 location runs with the Baltimore Orioles past season, follows the deep-pocketed Jays’ failed pursuits of Shohei Ohtani past offseason and of Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and Roki Sasaki this winter.

The switch-hitting Santander, 30, spent his archetypal 8 seasons with Baltimore and boasts 3 consecutive years with astatine slightest 28 location runs and 89 RBI. His 44 homers and 102 RBI successful 2024 marked vocation highs, but Santander’s vocation on-base percent is .307, and helium is considered a below-average baserunner and defender.

It is unclear however adding Santander impacts the Jay’s pursuit of Alonso, whom Toronto has been linked to successful caller days.

The Mets and Alonso, whose 226 location runs fertile 3rd successful franchise history, person been astatine an impasse each offseason, with a reported three-year connection successful the $70 cardinal range not believed to beryllium adjacent to what the slugger is seeking.

The Mets appeared to statesman pivoting from Alonso past week erstwhile they re-signed outfielder Jesse Winker to a one-year, $8 cardinal declaration and reached a two-year, $22 cardinal pact with left-handed reliever A.J. Minter.

Alonso is coming disconnected of his 3rd consecutive All-Star season, but his 34 location runs, 88 RBI and .788 OPS each represented vocation lows, not including the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.

Toronto, meanwhile, is astatine a crossroads aft a disappointing 74-88 play past twelvemonth and with homegrown stars Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette acceptable to participate their locomotion years.

Guerrero, who is inactive conscionable 25, has go the taxable of commercialized speculation, but the Blue Jays anticipation to widen the Canadian-born archetypal baseman, arsenic the Daily News’ Bill Madden reported implicit the weekend.

Adding Alonso would apt mean the Blue Jays moving Guerrero backmost to 3rd basal oregon alternating the sluggers astatine archetypal basal and designated hitter.