Santander ready for "new brothers," old friends
Anthony Santander is fully embracing his new life as a Toronto Blue Jays.
When the team introduced him at a press conference on Tuesday, Santander already sounded right at home. And it makes sense given his many connections throughout the organization.
While Santander was quoted as saying he is ready to help his "new brothers", he also has old friends at many levels of the Blue Jays system.
One of his closest friends is Victor Martinez, the former All-Star catcher who now works as a special assistant with the club. He was present during Spring Training in 2024 and will probably be there again this year. He also knows Andres Gimenez, a fellow Venezuelan, and spoke with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. this offseason. He also trains at the same facility as Alek Manoah.
Beyond the players though, Santander also has history with both coaches and the front office.
He always tried to push me to develop me as a player, and that gave me comfort. Thank you, Ross. With Mark [Budzinski], he was my manager and a great guy, a great person.
He always pushed me through my injuries and gave me an opportunity to play every day. We always had good communication to stay on the field. Thank you, Mark, too, and I'm going to see you soon.
In 2011, Santander was an international free agent when he signed with Cleveland.
At that time, Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins was the Indians director of player personnel, and Mark Shapiro was the team's president. First base coach Mark Budzinski was Santander's manager at Single-A Lynchburg.
Santander also has a fondness for Rogers Centre, calling the dome his favourite park.
SOURCE - SportsNet
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