Could Toronto Blue Jays Cut Anthony Santander Over Controversial Social Media Posts?

The Toronto Blue Jays are in an uncomfortable position with outfielder/designated hitter Anthony Santander. Do they keep him and try to salvage the final three years of his contract, or do they cut him and eat the nearly $60 million remaining?

On Thursday, Santander was in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Santander, a 32-year-old native of Venezuela, shared multiple Islamaphobic posts on Instagram, with one saying "America voted for Sharia Last Night!" in reference to Abdul El-Sayed winning a Michigan senate seat in Tuesday night's elections. The other said "Islam is not peaceful."

Santander, who is entering year three of a five-year, $92.5 million deal, took the posts down, but the Blue Jays later issued a statement saying that his words do not speak for their organizational values.

“Baseball is for everyone,” the statement read, “and the Blue Jays have created an inclusive experience where all fans feel welcome at our ballpark. Individual comments do not represent our organization’s values and beliefs.”

The posts have drawn backblash on social media, and now leave the Blue Jays in that uncomfortable position. 

There's a lot to unpack here, so let's just look at the options.

Yes. If the Blue Jays want to remove him from the roster, they can designate him for assignment. If a team were to claim him, they'd be on the hook for his remaining salary. Presuming he passes through waivers, the Jays would then be on the hook for all but the league minimum when a new team picks him up.

The Blue Jays could also look to trade him, presuming they can find a trade partner.

That could be hard to do because of the looming MLB lockout. Teams might be hesitant to make deals, especially for high-salary players, until they learn what the financial system is for 2027 and beyond.

As noted by The Athletic, the Blue Jays did move on from former pitcher Anthony Bass in 2023 after he shared an anti-LGBTQ post on social media. Bass was 0-0 with a 4.95 ERA in 22 games that season, so he evidently wasn't performing well enough on the field to keep around in the face of the distraction he caused.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Blue Jays suspended former outfielder Kevin Pillar for just two games for using a homophobic slur in 2017. Pillar was an important part of the roster and evidently was worth keeping around.

It should be noted that Pillar then went onto do a lot of work in understanding the LGBTQ community, and he became an advocate and an ally. He is back in the fold for the team as a part-time broadcaster now.

It's tough to say. Santander was signed before the 2025 season to be an anchor in the middle of the order, but he's been anything but that. He played just 54 games in 2025 because of injury and then missed the entire season in 2026 after undergoing labrum surgery.

With three years and that almost $60 million left on his deal, it's tough to envision the Blue Jays not trying to get a return on their investment, but it would stand to reason that he will have to go through the same kind of rehabilitation as Pillar did, especially with Toronto being a heavily diverse city.