March 20, 2022

Originally a Rule 5 draft pick from Cleveland, Santander has been much better than anyone could've reasonably expected in his time with Baltimore. Over the last three seasons Santander has put up a .769 OPS, .222 ISO, and a 100 wRC+ in 1008 PA. With better plate discipline he would be quite a valuable little find for the Orioles, but even as it stands not a bad player to have gotten for free. Santander boasts solid power, with a 90.7 MPH average exit velocity and 112.8 MPH max exit velocity last season. He may have gotten a bit unlucky in the batting average department as well, as Santander only post a .241 BA, but had a .269 xBA and a .275 BABIP. Part of his low BABIP stems from a flyball-heavy approach, as Santander hit 43.4% of his balls-in-play in the air last season. That's high, but not so extreme that we'd expect Santander to remain a BABIP outlier over the course of a full season. He's got the right field job on lockdown in Baltimore, and with regular playing time could push for 25 or more home runs if things break right. Pair that with a .260-ish average and the counting stats of a full time player, and Santander isn't a bad option at his current NFBC ADP of 267. Other outfielders going around him include Tommy Pham, who has yet to find a team, and Raimel Tapia, who was likely just supplanted by Kris Bryant in Colorado. As a volume play with a little pop, Santander isn't a bad option late in drafts.--Elliott Baas