SARASOTA, Fla. — If this is Anthony Santander’s last spring training with the Orioles, he’s making sure he doesn’t take any of it for granted.
The 29-year-old reported to the club’s complex at Ed Smith Stadium this spring with just one year remaining on his rookie contract. One of the Orioles’ best hitters on their upstart 2023 roster — he tied for the team lead with 28 home runs and hit .257 with a .797 OPS — Santander is hopeful they can work out a new deal to keep him in Baltimore long term.
“I would love that,” Santander said in the clubhouse Tuesday of signing an extension. “That’s something that we always talk about outside of this room with my family and friends. I would love to stay here. We leave that business side to the front office. We’re just here to live in the moment right now, prepare ourselves. We have a nice group and I really think we can make it longer in this postseason with these players.”
Coming off a breakout season during which they won 101 games and the American League East, the Orioles don’t have much time before they will face a crossroads that forces them to determine which players they want to keep around on long-term deals.
Santander will be the first such domino to fall if he hits the open market this winter, but outfielders Cedric Mullins and Austin Hays will be next in 2025 and first baseman Ryan Mountcastle the year after that. To lock up some of their budding stars who have yet to hit arbitration such as catcher Adley Rutschman and infielder Gunnar Henderson, incoming owner David Rubenstein might have to act quickly to convince them to forgo free agency.
The good news for Rubenstein is he’s inheriting an Orioles payroll with virtually no long-term commitments. Reliever Félix Bautista is the only player with a guaranteed salary for 2025, and he’s due just $1 million. Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias is giving his new boss a clean slate, which has already prompted players to seek extensions. Hays’ agent, Francis Marquez of the MAS+ Agency, expressed his client’s interest in signing a long-term contract earlier this month.
As for Santander, his value to the Orioles has many layers. The 2016 Rule 5 draft pick has spent the entirety of his seven-year MLB career with the team, developing into its most consistent power hitter and a leader in the clubhouse. He also added to his versatility last year by playing first base in addition to his normal position of right field. Baltimore recognized his impact by agreeing to an $11.7 million salary for this season, up from $7.4 million in 2023.
“Really for a few years now, just the middle-of-the-order presence, how he’s turned himself into one of the better hitters in the American League from a run-producer standpoint to what he brings with his power, his ability to hit from both sides and his ability to hit well from both sides so it’s tough to match up against him,” manager Brandon Hyde said of Santander’s value to the Orioles.
“He’s turned into one of the veterans on the team now. He’s a really good leader by example. He prepares as well as anybody. He’s really turned himself into a real professional so it’s great for the young guys to see how he goes about his business every day.”
What a potential extension for Santander, who would hit free agency at 30, looks like remains to be seen. Though he’s never made an All-Star team or garnered MVP votes, Santander has developed into a legitimate power bat in the middle of the Orioles’ lineup. The metric OPS+, which normalizes a player’s OPS to account for various external factors, pegs Santander as 20% better than the league-average hitter over the past two seasons.
With an uncertain future looming, Santander is just trying to focus on preparing for the 2024 season and getting through spring training healthy.
“Only God knows that,” Santander said of what his future holds. “The mentality is to stay healthy, prepare myself to each game, each pitch and just play hard. We don’t control the result. The preparation is more important thing.”
Around the horn
• Grayson Rodriguez made his spring training debut in the Orioles’ 5-2 exhibition win over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. He allowed one run on a solo shot off the bat of second baseman Zach McKinstry but struck out two as he tested his new two-seam fastball for the first time. Rodriguez plans to add the pitch to his arsenal this season.
• Pitching in an Orioles uniform for the first time since October 2022, reliever Dillon Tate made a triumphant return to the mound with a clean 1-2-3 frame. Tate, 29, missed all of last season because of a forearm strain and subsequent stress reaction in his pitching elbow. He was a trusted setup man out of the bullpen for Hyde as recently as 2022.
• MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark stopped by the Orioles’ clubhouse Tuesday for a meeting with the players. He spoke to the media afterward about a variety of topics including the team’s sale: “If the goal is to be the last team standing, then there’s going to be an opportunity to add to the talent that they already have here … We’re hopeful that that does indeed happen.”
• Reigning AL Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson took his first batting practice session of the spring on the field ahead of Tuesday’s game. Henderson has yet to appear in Grapefruit League action after an oblique injury delayed his participation in baseball activities. Hyde wouldn’t put an exact timetable on when Henderson will suit up but they both left open the possibility of him playing sometime this week.