How important for the 2025 season was the Blue Jays signing of OF Anthony Santander to a five-year free-agent contract and what does the projected lineup now look like. Griff and Mal discuss. They evaluate the merits of Hall-of-Fame voting results and the '25 class featuring Ichiro, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner. The Top 5 list compiles the most lucrative total value contracts in Jays history, led by George Springer, at $140M. The fact that is the 89th biggest deal in MLB history leads to the belief that if you are going to claim to be a big-market team then you need to have at least one Top 10 total value contract to hang your hat on — and that would be Vlad Guerrero Jr. Griff tells his story of Bob Uecker and the odd way that Ueck is connected to his experience of the San Francisco Earthquake Series.

INDEX:

0:00-Intro

2:29-Bob Uecker's connection to Griff and Earthquake Series

7:33-Hall-of-Fame discussion, Ichiro Sabathia and Wagner

22:52-Anthony Santander discussion at 5 yrs/$92.5M

29:24-How much payroll room do Jays have left

33:30-Blue Jays '25 lineup adjusted for Santander

41:43-Summary of Zoom call with Santander and Ross Atkins

44:38-Top 5 List of biggest Total Value contracts in Jays history

48:17-Why the Jays need to show Vlad the money

53:38-What the Jays still need to do before opening day

57:07-The NFL Championship weekend with Mal and Griff on heaters

----

Get the video version of "Exit Philosophy" and "Conversations with Griff" on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@ExitPhilosophy

----

For the full catalogue of Richard Griffin's work, including weekly Blue Jays/MLB columns, a weekly MLB Power Rankings column, exclusive conversations with some of the game's greats, past and present, and the Exit Philosophy podcast, visit https://www.griffsthepitch.com/