Baltimore Orioles Dodged Massive Bullet Allowing All-Star Slugger to Leave

The Baltimore Orioles underwent some major changes with their roster this past offseason.

Two 2024 All-Stars, starting pitcher Corbin Burnes and designated hitter Anthony Santander, hit the open market and departed as free agents.

Their ace signed a long-term deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks, while the start slugger signed a deal with their American League East, rivals, the Toronto Blue Jays.

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It could have definitely hurt seeing Santander launching home runs against them for the foreseeable future. He agreed to a five-year, $92.5 million deal with a chance to earn $110 million over six years.

Coming off a monster season in which he hit 44 home runs and had 102 RBI, both career-highs, it looked like it would be a tall task replacing him in the lineup.

However, the Orioles look to have dodged a bullet allowing him to depart, as his tenure with the Blue Jays has gotten off to a brutal start.

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Currently on the injured list with shoulder inflammation, Santander wasn’t providing any positive impact while in the lineup.

He has a .179/.273/.304 slash line with only six home runs and five doubles in 209 plate appearances, leaving a lot to be desired with a -0.9 bWAR and 62 OPS+.

Certainly not the kind of production anyone expected, with Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report placing him at No. 5 in his ranking of the most cringy contracts in the MLB this year.

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“Since the 30-year-old is "only" making $18.5 million per year, it's difficult to justify putting him any higher than this. Everyone in our top four is scheduled to make more through 2028 than Santander will make in a contract that runs through 2029,” he wrote.

Baltimore hasn’t received much better production from Tyler O’Neill, who was signed in free agency as a replacement for Santander.

But, veteran Ramon Laureano has been excellent for the Orioles with a .273/.348/.515 with an OPS+ of 144 and 2.1 bWAR.

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With 10 home runs and 10 doubles in 56 games and 187 plate appearances, he is providing a major impact not only at the plate but other facets of the game with above-average base running and defense as well.

The Orioles have enough worries already with the current state of their roster and have to be relieved not to be dealing with a designated hitter who isn’t hitting who signed a lucrative long-term deal.

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