The Toronto Blue Jays have received bad news on the potential return this season of former All-Star outfielder Anthony Santander.
The team has been without Santander all season long. While there was optimism that he might return to the squad before the summer was over, it appears that won’t be the case, as it’s becoming increasingly unlikely that Santander will play for the Blue Jays in 2026.
Toronto Gets Bad News on Anthony Santander
Relaying information from Toronto manager John Schneider, Blue Jays reporter Keegan Matheson shared the bad news on social media that Santander’s return to the team is not looking promising this season after he felt something in his surgically repaired shoulder again, and he hasn’t even started swinging a bat.
“Anthony Santander felt something in his surgically repaired shoulder again and got another cortisone shot. He hasn’t started hitting. At this point, it’s obviously getting less and less likely that we see him this season. #BlueJays,” Matheson wrote on X.
He hasn’t started hitting. At this point, it’s obviously getting less and less likely that we see him this season. #BlueJays
Anthony Santander’s Contract Looking Like a Sunk Cost
The Blue Jays gave Santander a five-year, $92.5 million contract that included significant deferrals in January 2025 after he spent the first eight seasons of his MLB career in Baltimore, where he was one of the top-hitting outfielders in the American League.
In Santander’s final season in Baltimore in 2024, he hit 44 home runs and had 102 RBIs with a .814 OPS and a 131 OPS+ as he was an All-Star, won a Silver Slugger, and came in 14th in AL MVP voting.
When Toronto signed Santander, it looked like a good value contract for a big bat, as the Blue Jays were looking to strengthen their lineup.
But Santander struggled badly in his first season in Toronto, as he played in just 54 games, hitting just 6 home runs with a .175 batting average, a .565 OPS, and a 55 OPS+. His defense in the outfield was also poor, and he accumulated -1.0 bWAR.
There was hope that Santander would return to the Blue Jays’ lineup this season to help them make another deep playoff run after they made the World Series last year, but that’s unlikely to be the case now.
Blue Jays Get Bad News on Former All-Star’s Return