1:56PM: The Orioles have officially reinstated Santander from the injured list.
8:16AM: Anthony Santander is set to make his return to the Orioles lineup, as manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko) that Santander will be activated from the injured list prior to today’s game with the Nationals. Outfielder Ryan McKenna was optioned to Triple-A yesterday, so a place is open for Santander on the active roster.
Santander hit the 10-day IL on April 21 due to a sprained ankle, so he’ll get back to action after exactly one lost month. The injury only added to an overall rough start for Santander, who has a .196/.230/.321 slash line and two home runs over his first 62 plate appearances.
It was a far cry from the impressive numbers posted by Santander in 2020, when he hit .261/.315/.575 with 11 home runs in 165 PA before an oblique injury ended his season in early September. Should Santander get back to that level of production, it will give Baltimore a pretty nice starting outfield combination given that Cedric Mullins and Austin Hays are both hitting well. A return to form would also certainly revive trade interest in Santander, and though he is controlled through the 2024 season, a trade prior to the July 30 deadline can’t be entirely ruled out if the rebuilding Orioles got a tempting offer.
With that slash line, I guess this is one Santander you CAN’T bank on.
Try harder
More like Can’tander.
I see what you did there.
Don’t do it again!!
Hopefully he’s gets traded to a Can’tander who needs outfielders and another bat for the 6 spot ahem ahem White Sox ahem ahem
He’s a fan favorite in Baltimore with some upside. Let’s tune him out there with Mullins and Hays and see what happens. Could prove to be a spark plug for the lineup and team.
I think most forget that Santander was a Rule V guy from the Indians years ago. He had an impressive end of 2019 and an impressive 2020 but you can’t them to be franchise guys which is what Baltimore is placing on Santander. (it’s the Orioles, so not too many options). If the Orioles can get a decent prospect or two out of a trade they should.
I think the Indians would welcome him back.
That is “Rule 5.” This isn’t the Stupor Bowl.
He gets plenty of rope on a bad team to see if he is either going to be a piece of the ever-elusive “next contending Orioles team” or traded for prospects come July.
I get a lot of flack from other Orioles fans when I say that the Orioles are not close to being a contender. They are better than the 47 and 54 win teams in 2018 and 2019, but not much. People point to their winning percentage improvements by year. 2020 has to be dropped because it was a mess. But they started 12-8 and finished 13-27, and 13-27 is close to a 54 win pace….that team probably still loses 100 if they played 162. In 2021 remove the 3-0 start and they’re around .333 again. There’s still time to make improvements in 2021, but I have to see to believe.
A round of applause for Trey Mancini though, a great story.
You can’t look at the O’s without accepting that they’re financially hung by (a) bizarre deferral contracts and (b) maybe up to 100M for the MASN mess. Those things really limit what they can do. Without those things, they’re the Tigers, whose approach has been truly deplorable, considering their assets. You can nit-pick what the Royals are doing and the choices they’ve made, but at least they’re trying.
So the O’s are fairly unique, and most likely are faced with 5 years of circling through prospect after prospect, and seeing who sticks. In that light, ya, Santander’s probably a goner if he produces, and possibly even Mullins and Hayes and Means. Boom Boom’s a bit trickier; you’ve gotta weigh the horrible PR impact with the potential return.
It’s really almost a Shakespearian tragedy. This is a great city with a rabid fan base and, still, years later, one of the top 5 parks in MLB, not to mention the respect the team had for years on end.. The BEST solution? New ownership would work.
I would kill if I thought it could get the O’s sold to a better owner. The Angelos family is the reason my beloved O’s are in the middle of a deep and agonizing rebuild that was necessitated due to ownership’s neglect of the farm system and disregard for the international market for players. The day the Angelos family sells will be one of the happiest days in the history of the O’s and can’t come a moment too soon.
I liked it all!!! Except for modifying the word “unique. Like the word “infinite,” the word meaning “one-of-a kind” can not be modified. If the Orioles are truly in a “one-of-a-kind,”: situation, then the word “fairly” is useless. If their situation is “fairly uncommon,” then it is not “unique.”
Bob
I don’t accept the cop out the Orioles are selling. They spent money in 1996-2000. They spent money here and there through about 2007 because they were under the continual delusion of thinking a 65 win team was just a player or two away from contending, and they could do it without any pitching or developing their own system. Tampa has a smaller market than the Orioles and have been wildly more successful. So does KC which is on the upswing. San Diego’s not a really big place either and they’re spending..
From 2012-17 they spent a little and overachieved with the combination of a few players that came up through the minors, a great bullpen, and duct-taped starting pitching..
I keep hearing about the minors and being “a year or two from contending” but that gets pushed back every year too. Simply because of guys like Brian Matusz, I have to see it to believe that we fixed the system.
I agree ownership is the biggest problem but the team strategy of refusing to get good pitching is probably #2. And most teams would have cut Chris Davis by now, him being out for the season is probably being celebrated as a great win for 2021 by the turds in charge (and it does help the expected win total too)
I don’t have any doubt that they’ll be back in the hunt at some point. If anything, their system might be a tad under-rated; Adley, Rodriguez, Hall and especially Henderson are all impact talent. They lack the the depth the Rays et al have, but those 4 are going to be very, very good (I’ve had man-love for Gunner since he was in high school; they just have to admit he’s not a SS. But the bat-ball skills are as good as anyone, even including Wonder Wander).
They’re just hanging onto Davis in the event of a work stoppage next year; why pay a player on strike. If a new CBA would suddenly appear out of the sky, they’d probably cut him.
And they were able to survive the last decade because they had a manager very adept at wringing every possible victory out of his roster, though I agree Buck had to go, with the new regime; because that’s what new regimes do.
But the path forward is just unnecessarily laborious. They have a lot of money, even with their particular issues. Given that fan base and ball park, going the way of the Royals would have been more fair to that fanbase.
I’m a Baltimore fan and I don’t think they are anywhere close to competing.
I know it’s beating a dead horse but they’ll never be able to compete with NY and BOS in terms of salary, even TOR is up there in payroll. Tampa always scouts well so they are never push overs as well,
After 2022 there isn’t anyone under contract so we’ll see if they sign any free agents.
Other than Means there isn’t a MLB caliber starting pitcher on the team.
There are a few decent prospects but the lack of a season last year really hurt any development.
They also have a top 10 pick this year and probably a top 5 next year as well. Hopefully, they can scout well and get a couple guys that pan out. Maybe they’ll be ready to complete in 2023 .
I wonder whether non-rebuilding teams might have been hurt more by the loss of 2020 MiLB season than the tankers were.
Glad to see Santander back on the field! Whenever Santander plays the Orioles do better.
Instead of rescheduling any games for Seattle that are lost due to Covid, give them an L instead. If they are that reckless as a team and haven’t gotten the message about vaccinations then they should suffer the consequences. No more makeup games for any team that gets Covid. Give them the loss and move on. It’s not fair to the other team or teams that are doing what they are supposed to be doing to keep everyone safe. The owners can run their teams anyway they seem fit so if the players don’t like it they can go play overseas.
Bob
I don’t accept the cop out the Orioles are selling. They spent money in 1996-2000. They spent money here and there through about 2007 because they were under the continual delusion of thinking a 65 win team was just a player or two away from contending, and they could do it without any pitching or developing their own system. Tampa has a smaller market than the Orioles and have been wildly more successful. So does KC which is on the upswing. San Diego’s not a really big place either and they’re spending..
From 2012-17 they spent a little and overachieved with the combination of a few players that came up through the minors, a great bullpen, and duct-taped starting pitching..
I keep hearing about the minors and being “a year or two from contending” but that gets pushed back every year too. Simply because of guys like Brian Matusz, I have to see it to believe that we fixed the system.
I agree ownership is the biggest problem but the team strategy of refusing to get good pitching is probably #2. And most teams would have cut Chris Davis by now, him being out for the season is probably being celebrated as a great win for 2021 by the turds in charge (and it does help the expected win total too)