The Baltimore Orioles will have to make some tough choices this offseason when it comes to whether to make a real effort to keep their two star free agents, pursue just one or let both go.

This conversation, of course, revolves around Corbin Burns and Anthony Santandertwo players coming off All-Star campaigns and hitting the open market at a perfect time. While Burnes has been consistently spectacular for most of the past decade, Santander is coming off a career season in 2024 in which he hit 44 home runs and 102 RBI, both his highest marks ever. Losing both feels more likely than keeping both, and if the team only makes a real effort to keep one, it will likely be Burnes.

All of this adds up to the inevitable likelihood that Santander will be playing elsewhere in 2025. If things really work out that way, Baltimore would love to see him end up far away and possibly in the National League. But Ryan Finkelstein of Just Baseball predicts the power-hitting outfielder to end with Toronto Blue Jays on a five-year, $110 million deal.

“Still just 30 years old, Santander could be looking for a deal at least five years long in free agency, but teams may be wary of giving him that many years,” Finkelstein wrote. “If the Toronto Blue Jays strike out in pursuit of Juan Soto, they may turn their attention to Santander and try to poach a power threat from one of their division rivals.”

As Finkelstein mentioned, the Blue Jays are in serious pursuit Juan Soto and almost certainly wouldn’t sign both, but the actual chances of them ending up with the services of the best hitter in baseball over some of the biggest market teams in the league feel slim to none at best. At that point, Santander would fill a need — albeit at a much lower skill level than Soto — for a power outfielder and likely be a thorn in the side of the Orioles for years to come.

Baltimore can’t afford to overpay just to keep Santander away from a division rival, but they can hope things go in a different direction if they choose not to keep him instead of him hitting home runs against them every time they two AL East foes are playing. a series against each other.