Details emerge on the Anthony Santander contract
The Toronto Blue Jays finally got their man! On Monday, the team announced that they had signed All-Star Anthony Santander to a five-year contract, in what is their biggest deal of the offseason.
Ari Alexander was first to report the news, along with MLB Insider Jon Morosi.
The deal is for $92.5MM. However, like many contracts in this day and age, isn't quite as simple as it sounds.
On paper, the deal works out to roughly $18.5MM a year. It would take the Blue Jays above the 2nd luxury tax threshold.
However, the front-loaded contract includes several deferrals, which allows them to bypass the CBT.
There's more though.
The deal includes options as well as an opt-out after year three.
Here's where it gets interesting. Santander can opt-out after the third year, but the Blue Jays can essentially void that opt-out.
If that happens, the contract then becomes a six year, $110MM deal. This is what's known as a partial option.
Deferred contracts are becoming more and more common as teams look for creative ways to avoid paying a luxury tax. When Shohei Ohtani signed his $700MM deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he backloaded and heavily deferred it, essentially playing the first few years for only a couple of million.
The total amount of deferred money in Santander's contract is about $35MM.
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