With the start of 2025 spring training now much closer on the horizon than the 2024 World Series is in the rearview mirror, most of the top players in this year's class of MLB free agents have chosen their new home.

There remain a few key stragglers, though, including former Baltimore Orioles right fielder Anthony Santander.

You would think a slugger fresh off a 44-home run campaign wouldn't have much difficulty finding strong offers. Still, the concerns over what the 30-year-old brings to the table beyond the home runs are creating a divide between what he believes he is worth on the open market and how the open market feels about him.

The wheels are beginning to turn, though, with a report coming from KPRC's Ari Alexander this past weekend that the Blue Jays have extended Santander an offer, while several other teams remain in the hunt for him.

No time like the present for an updated look at the most likely landing spots for the 2024 All-Star and Silver Slugger.

What Is Santander's Value in Free Agency?

At the beginning of the offseason, MLB Trade Rumors put Santander's projected contract at four years, $80 million. Spotrac suggested five years, $88.7 million. At various points in the past three months, I'm pretty sure Tim Kelly, Joel Reuter, Zachary Rymer and myself from B/R have all suggested a five-year, $100 million-type deal.

The long and short of it is a general consensus of four or five years at around $20 million apiece for the switch-hitting, slugging right fielder, who has averaged 36 home runs and 99 RBI per 162 games played over the past six years.

As his free agency drags out, though, maybe that's changing and a shorter-term deal is in the picture.

Maybe teams are balking at the thought of offering a Nick Castellanos-sized contract to a player whose profile—can mash, can't field, OBP leaves something to be desired but generally stays healthy—is pretty similar to that of the Phillies star; nervous about investing nine figures in a guy who was never an All-Star or an MVP vote recipient until his age-29 walk year.

However, a five-year, $100 million deal still feels about right here. And though nearly $2.5 billion has been spent on free agents already this offseason, there are still a handful of teams who could, reasonably, make that work for them.

Nos. 10-6: Rockies, Nationals, Padres, A's and Giants

10. Colorado Rockies

Would signing Santander do anything to prevent the Rockies from finishing dead-last in the NL West in 2025? No. But are there 10 contenders who both need Santander and the ability to pay him close to $100M? Also no. So why not? His primary skill set is launching home runs, so maybe he could put together a solid several-year run at Coors Field.

9. Washington Nationals

It would be a bit shocking if the Nats gave Santander the type of major contract they gave Jayson Werth 14 years ago. If they're going that route for a big-name splash, I have to believe it would be for Alex Bregman, given how dire their 3B situation is compared to their corner OF situation. But maybe? We certainly expected them to do more this offseason than trade for Nate Lowe and sign Mike Soroka and Josh Bell to one-year deals.

8. San Diego Padres

After a few consecutive years of extremely busy offseasons, the Padres have done a heaping pile of nothing this winter. This includes not yet doing anything to replace Jurickson Profar, leaving them with a gaping hole in left field. However, unless they ultimately do trade away either Luis Arraez or Dylan Cease, there's probably no room in the budget for the Friars to sign Santander.

7. Athletics

If the A's are serious about increasing their payroll (currently at an estimated $58.4 million) to around $100 million, signing Santander would be a major step in that direction. And though both JJ Bleday and Lawrence Butler had breakout seasons in 2024, there's still one spot in this outfield that could benefit from an upgrade. If they're going to do more spending, though, it'll probably be dedicated to the pitching staff.

6. San Francisco Giants

After missing out on Corbin Burnes, what are the Giants going to do? Pivoting to Jack Flaherty or Pete Alonso arguably makes more sense than trying to sign Santander, but bringing him into DH and playing some right field could be the direction they go. Maybe he could break their drought of 20 consecutive seasons without having a player hit 30 home runs.

5. Kansas City Royals

Current Projected OF/DH Situation: LF MJ Melendez, CF Kyle Isbel, RF Hunter Renfroe, DH Jonathan India. Reserves: Joey Wiemer, Dairon Blanco, Drew Waters, Nelson Velázquez.

If money wasn't a factor, Kansas City would be one of the primary teams pursuing Santander, if not the indisputable No. 1 candidate to sign him.

Because, Royals, your outfield? Woof.

Kansas City had an "As OF" positional split fWAR of 0.9 last season, edging out only the Rockies, Pirates and White Sox for last place in that department. They were also 26th in DH fWAR and never had a primary DH, with Nelson Velázquez leading the team with 151 plate appearances there.

Kyle Isbel was at least respectable in center field, but between MJ Melendez, Hunter Renfroe, Dairon Blanco, Adam Frazier, Garrett Hampson and Velázquez, Kansas City's 2024 corner outfield situation left much to be desired—as does its 2025 list of options.

Though they did trade to acquire Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer, the former has yet to play anywhere other than second base in the majors and the latter is a career .201 hitter.

In other words, they haven't resolved the problem.

Unfortunately, money is a major factor for Kansas City, and Santander is probably beyond their budget.

The Royals increased their Opening Day payroll last year, going from around $90 million for three consecutive seasons to $115.4 million. However, following Michael Lorenzen's recent re-signing, they're already at an estimated $116 million for the upcoming season.

Maybe they could get creative with the contract structure to make it work, keeping in mind that Sal Perez ($22 million this season) has a $13.5 million club option or $2 million buyout for 2026, plus Renfroe, Chris Stratton and Hunter Harvey (combined $15 million) coming off the books next season.

You can't backload it too much, though, as Bobby Witt Jr.'s salary goes from $7.7 million this season to $13.7 million in 2026, $19.7 million in 2027, and north of $30 million annually starting in 2028.

4. Detroit Tigers

Current Projected OF/DH Situation: LF Riley Greene, CF Parker Meadows, RF Wenceel Pérez, DH Kerry Carpenter. Reserves: Matt Vierling.

In adding both Gleyber Torres and Alex Cobb on one-year, $15 million deals, the Tigers have undeniably made an effort to improve this offseason.

Just...not as much of an effort as we expected, right?

After incredibly winning its wild-card series against the Houston Astros despite an active 26-man payroll less expensive than Josh Hader's salary, the assumption was that Detroit would financially pursue that high a salary.

A big splash on par with the Javier Báez and Eduardo Rodriguez signings from three winters ago seemed likely.

At least investing more than the $47.5 million they spent on free agents last offseason felt inevitable.

Thus far, though, that hasn't been the case.

The Tigers' payroll is slightly north of $100 million, but they could add another $30 million to their tab and still be about where they were to open 2022. They could also nearly double their current payroll and still not exceed what they spent in 2016 and 2017.

That doesn't mean they have to spend. They might be able to win the AL Central without making any more moves.

They could spend, though, and arguably should spend to bring in one of the biggest names still available, as they are woefully light on right-handed slugging.

Is Santander at the top of their wish list, though?

When Detroit has become the relatively clear most likely landing spot for Alex Bregman?

Could/would the Tigers go all-in and sign both?

Probably not, and that's probably why they haven't been mentioned often as one of the top suitors for Santander, even though signing him would seem to be a major upgrade over their current RF situation.

3. Boston Red Sox

Current Projected OF/DH Situation: LF Jarren Duran, CF Ceddanne Rafaela, RF Wilyer Abreu, DH Masataka Yoshida. Reserves: Rob Refsnyder, Roman Anthony.

Could the Red Sox sign a right fielder to fix their second base problem?

For most teams, that wouldn't make any sense. But Boston would have the option of more or less cementing Ceddanne Rafaela at second base instead of center field if they signed Santander. At that point, Jarren Duran becomes the primary CF, with Santander and Wilyer Abreu holding down the corner outfield forts.

Then again, who needs a $100 million free-agent outfielder when you've got three position players—OF Roman Anthony, SS Marcelo Mayer and OF/MI Kristian Campbell—among MLB.com's top 10 overall prospects, potentially ready to make their big league debuts on Opening Day 2025?

If any of those three is ready for a big role as a rookie this year—let alone potentially the whole trio—there's really no need for the Red Sox to invest in Santander. (Though, we have to consider them a top-five candidate since they've been publicly linked to him for a little while now.)

They certainly could afford it from a dollars and cents perspective. Boston's current projected payroll is merely $168 million, which is preposterously low for a franchise that typically ranks top-five in revenue. They could sign Santander to a $20 million AAV and still be basically tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2025 payroll.

But does it make sense for them to further block those prospects' path to an everyday job when their entire current projected starting lineup is already under team control through at least 2027?

By all means, Boston should be spending some more money. However, spend it on a Tanner Scott or a Carlos Estévez, who are inexplicably both still available. Bring back Nick Pivetta. Be the ones to take a flyer on Jeff Hoffman as a starting pitcher.

Not saying do all of those things, but there are plenty of options for continuing to work on the pitching staff that has held this team back in recent years, as opposed to spending on another hitter the Red Sox probably don't need.

2. Los Angeles Angels

Current Projected OF/DH Situation: LF Taylor Ward, CF Mike Trout, RF Jo Adell, DH Jorge Soler. Reserves: Mickey Moniak.

It has been a few years since the Angels last laughably overpaid for a free-agent slugger who had already celebrated his 30th birthday, but only a fool would count Arte Moreno out of this bidding war.

The Halos still have the ginormous salaries of Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon to worry about, as well as an estimated payroll of $191 million, which ranks them around 11th.

But they could go higher, no problem.

Last year was the first time since 2003 that the Angels didn't open the regular season top-nine in payroll. And that 13th-place starting point came immediately after they were north of $210 million to open the 2023 campaign.

As far as the need for a slugging corner outfielder goes, both Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak were replacement level at best in 2024, and it's gotten to the point where the Angels pretty well have to assume they're going to need to play a lot of games sans Trout in center.

Even if Trout does play in 162 games by some miracle, though, bringing in Santander to serve as the primary RF could be a good move.

Would that be the move that pushes the Angels over the top, making them a serious threat to win the AL West?

Debatable, but plausible.

Making a move for another quality starting pitcher would probably be more beneficial, but signing Santander would be much better than nothing.

1. Toronto Blue Jays

Current Projected OF/DH Situation: LF Joey Loperfido, CF Daulton Varsho, RF George Springer, DH Will Wagner. Reserves: Davis Schneider, Jonatan Clase, Nathan Lukes.

Even without the recent reports of Toronto making an official contract offer to Santander, this was beginning to feel like a match made at Tim Hortons, as other would-be suitors kind of fell out of the mix by making other moves.

The fit is readily apparent.

Toronto only had one player (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) hit at least 20 home runs last season while sputtering to one of the worst run totals in the majors. The Blue Jays also have a poorly balanced lineup from a lefty/righty perspective, so Santander's switch-hitting bat would be clutch. (None of Toronto's 20 team leaders in plate appearances in 2024 was a switch hitter.) And left field is the lowest hanging fruit, after last year's primary LF, Davis Schneider, hit .191 as a replacement-level player.

The Blue Jays also need to land somebody big at some point, right?

You can't tease the fanbase with Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto in back-to-back years and then ask it to accept Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Yimi García and Andrés Giménez as the "big" acquisitions.

Now, if signing Santander means giving up all hope on signing Guerrero to a long-term deal, maybe don't do it.

But that shouldn't be the case. Not with the George Springer, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and (probably) Bo Bichette contracts coming off the books either next winter or the following one. There's no good reason that paying Santander $20 million per year should change what they're willing to offer Guerrero.

The bigger issue might be the 2025 payroll, which is already around $200 million and would be approaching the competitive balance tax threshold quickly if they add Santander.

Heading into a "now or never" type of season, though, that should be the furthest thing from a deal-breaker.