How Santander Injury Affects the 2026 Blue Jays ft. Kevin Barker
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What are the implications of Anthony Santander's season‑ending shoulder surgery?
Hey everyone, welcome to another edition of Blue Jays Talk on the Sportsnet Radio Network. Show Ali here with you as spring training begins around Major League Baseball. And uh you'll hear this later in the show. Kevin Barker has given his blessing for me to say that. That spring training has indeed begun, even though only quote unquote the biggest event that has happened is pitchers and catchers reporting uh throughout Major League Baseball, but still an exciting time of year, pretty crazy. That this is where we're at. Of course, uh, many of you are aware, I'm sure by now, that the Jays have had some major injury updates for us. Anthony Santander out for five to six months. Shane Bieber not ready for the beginning of the season either, with some forearm fatigue.
It has become, as things usually do, a major topic of discussion in Jays land in the last 24 hours or so. So on SportsNet today, earlier this afternoon, Danieli Franceschi and I spent some time talking about it ourselves. We talked about the Santander news, his contract, what it could mean going forward this offseason. Guys, I think you're you're going to be looking a little bit more at Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but certainly a lot of other players as well. Now that you will not have Santander for the bulk of the season, what is Jose Barrios' role in all of this now that Bieber will not be ready for the beginning of the season? Eric Lauer as well, who you'll Hare uh did not win his arbitration case against the Blue Jays.
That was announced via Shai David and Ben Nicholson Smith earlier today as well. So lots of items for us to get to. Daniel and I spent some time talking about it to start the show, and then later, and you can skip ahead. The timestamp is available on this podcast-only edition for your listening pleasure. Kevin Barker himself stopped by and we asked him those questions as well. So lots for us to get to. Here is a smorgasbord. Of topics on this podcast only edition of Blue Jay's Talk. Anthony Santander will undergo, in case people haven't heard by now, left laboral surgery on Wednesday with Dr. Keith Meister. That's today. He'll be out for approximately five to six months. And for those like me who were asking the question, why didn't he not just get surgery right after he was taken off the roster, more or less right away?
The follow-up from Arden's dwelling, and this was from John Schneider as well. He was resting, rehabbing in November. December, December, then had a setback when he resumed hitting in January. But uh that that's a bit that does cast a bit of a pall over the beginning of spring training.
Oh, it definitely does. Uh the the Shane Bieber piece of it, we w that was sort of expected. I think you and I actually talked about it last week where we uh had this sneaky suspicion that there might be something there by the time they report for spring training and we would get the the the sort of uh pre-spring training update in that in that inaugural media avail to to usher in a new season where they'd say, hey, Shane Bieber is kind of nursing something and he's gonna be brought along a little bit slowly. So that wasn't as much of a surprise. The Santon Derwan definitely caught everybody by surprise. Like that was that was unexpected. Um and and it just it it stings even more because of what transpired last year
Last season with with the not never mind just the fact that he was injured, but a lot of the stops and starts along the way show and then when you thought, all right, he's gonna battle through and he's trying to fight to to get himself back on the field to be as much of a c uh a contributor and a threat as possible. With
Well then he ended ended up throttling it back and shutting it down again. So that that part was frustrating for somebody who is now going into year two of a big contract. And immediately, first thing that pops in your head is, okay, the timeline. Like why now? Why now? Why didn't this happen earlier? Why didn't it happen last year? Why wouldn't it have happened right after the season ended?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are the implications of Anthony Santander's season‑ending shoulder surgery?
0:06–8:42
2
How will Shane Bieber's forearm fatigue affect the Blue Jays’ starting rotation?
8:42–17:19
3
What role could José Berríos play now that Bieber is delayed and Santander is out?
17:19–24:33
4
How does the Blue Jays’ front office view the value of the Santander contract versus other big deals?
24:33–33:50
5
What insights does Kevin Barker share about the team's offensive depth after the injuries?
33:50–42:08
6
Which players are expected to step up as run producers in the absence of Santander and Bo Bouchard?
42:08–48:46
7
How might the Blue Jays adjust their rotation and bullpen with six starters vying for five spots?
48:46–55:13
8
What are the key takeaways and expectations for the Blue Jays heading into the 2026 season?
55:13–1:00:45
Speakers
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