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Power production has always been one of the most-head turning aspects of the game of baseball. When players can hit the ball as far away from the plate as possible, they tend to be one of the best and most productive players in the entire sport. New York Yankees star Aaron Judge has made quite a living out of hitting baseballs as hard and far away as he could. However, there is only one Judge. Teams will have to look at the next best thing — who, as luck would have it, will be available in free agency at the conclusion of this season.
Fittingly, the player with the second-most home runs in the American League this season is Baltimore Orioles slugger Anthony Santander, with 37. The 29-year-old right fielder hit his 37th long ball of the campaign in their 9-5 win over the New York Mets on Tuesday night — a two-run home run in the second inning. However, Santander, as hinted above, will be entering free agency following the 2024 season, as he is currently on the final year of team control.
The expectation is that the Orioles slugger will be commanding a ton of interest on the open market, with Jon Morosi of MLB Network writing that fans will be “hearing his name a lot in the months ahead”.
There are only eight players in the MLB at the moment who have breached the 30-home run mark, making Anthony Santander such a valuable player. It's unclear at this point what the Orioles' long-term plans are for their current everyday right fielder. While keeping Santander in town is always an option, signing him to a new contract will cost a pretty penny. Moreover, they have Herston Kjerstad waiting in the wings.
But for now, the Orioles will be laser-focused on making sure that they win the AL East crown while improving upon their ALDS performance last season when they were swept by the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers. Santander should play a huge role in their team's offense in what remains of the season, driving in runs at the heart of the order thanks to his top-tier slugging ability.
Anthony Santander, bridging the Orioles' past and present
The Orioles have become quite the powerhouse, thanks to their incredible scouting and player development. They may not be poised to replicate their 101-win 2023 season (they are on pace for 94 wins), but they are set up to sustainably contend for at least the next half-decade.
But before the good came the bad, as is usually the case. From 2018 to 2021, the Orioles were in the gutter; they had by far the worst cumulative winning percentage during those four seasons. With a win rate of 32.6 percent, they were 6.3 percentage points worse than the second-worst team during that span (Detroit Tigers, 38.9 percent).
Nonetheless, through the bad times and the good times over the past seven seasons, one player has remained a fixture of the Orioles lineup — Anthony Santander. Acquired via the Rule 5 Draft way back in 2016, Santander has been an everyday player for the Orioles since 2019. He has hit 148 home runs to this point in his Orioles career, and with 35 games left in the season, there is a strong chance that he could reach the 40-home run mark for the first time in his career. He has a chance to reach 45 dingers as well.
