TORONTO – There appears to be some movement in the pursuit of Ervin Santana, but the Toronto Blue Jays aren’t the ones driving the sudden turn in his market.
Santana made some progress toward finding a job over the weekend, according to a source. The developments were first reported by foxsports.com’s Ken Rosenthal, who also noted that the Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles have been in touch with Santana’s representatives.
Things remain status quo with the Blue Jays, who have been patiently sitting back and waiting for a buying opportunity to arise for either Santana or fellow free-agent starter Ubaldo Jimenez.
For the moment, no moves from them appear imminent.
The Blue Jays are widely expected to be a landing spot for one of Santana or Jimenez, while the Orioles, who have a competitive lineup but a thin rotation, are thought to be on the hunt for a starter, as well.
Alex Anthopoulos, the Blue Jays GM, has said on multiple occasions that he expects the agents for each pitcher to check back with them before finalizing any agreements, but that may not be the case if the players find deals they like.
The emergence of details on Santana’s negotiations now might be a sort of last call for interested clubs to get in on the action, or an attempt to pressure teams to enter the fray before the pitcher is gone.
As things stand now, the Blue Jays head into spring training with R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle, Brandon Morrow and J.A. Happ slated for the rotation, with Esmil Rogers, Todd Redmond, Marcus Stroman and Drew Hutchison vying for the fifth starter’s job.
