Does Santander make it through season with Orioles?

Predictions on opening day rosters keep placing Anthony Santander in right field, which seems logical at the moment. The action on him over the winter didn't produce a trade and the Orioles aren't trying to dump him. That isn't the point.

They'll listen to any offers on any players, as they should. It would be foolish to screen calls or hang up.

You can't operate with closed minds while open for business.

If Santander can fetch a prospect or two while his salary rises beyond $2 million and he has a few more arbitration years ahead of him, a deal must be considered with the Orioles remaining in rebuild mode. That's just common sense.

I keep seeing fans ask why. Well, that's it.

The Orioles aren't handing out extensions at this time. They have Yusniel Diaz waiting in the wings, with the 2021 season vastly important as he finally plays at the Triple-A level.

Diaz is flashing the tools in camp that made him the top target in the Manny Machado trade with the Dodgers.

No one is untouchable in this organization, though there are obvious degrees of willingness to deal. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias would need to be overwhelmed to move, let's say, catcher Adley Rutschman. I can't even fathom a suitable proposal. And he wants to plug Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall into the rotation. The young pitching studs are staying.

Gunnar Henderson appears to be the shortstop of the future, unless he's moved to third base and Jordan Westburg becomes the shortstop of the future. It's a deep position.

"He's physical," third base coach and infield instructor Tony Mansolino said of Westburg. "He's a big kid. Him and Gunnar Henderson, both of them. You know, they are younger guys - Gunnar's a little younger than Westy - but they're just physical infielders. As you watch them, I think when you see a bigger kid, you dream on these kids and you want to compare them to the kid in L.A., (Corey) Seager. You know, that type of a middle infielder body. And as you watch these guys right now, you see traits of that.

"I saw Seager when he was in Low-A with the Dodgers in Great Lakes for the whole year. And both these guys remind of that a little bit. Westburg being a college signing, so it's a little bit different for him. But they're just big, physical middle infielders and it's exciting. I think when they get big you worry about movement and agility and things like that, quickness in the infield, and they have it. So the quickness, the agility, with the physical bodies and ability to swing the bat, it's a really exciting couple of players for us in our organization."

There's a reason why the farm system is climbing in various rankings.

Anyway, back to Santander ...

There are many people in the industry who predict that the Orioles will trade him by the July deadline, when the market heats up with defined contenders heading into the second half. Perhaps Diaz will be ready by then.

Heston Kjerstad has a ways to go while still waiting to play his first professional game - he hasn't even been cleared for workouts this spring - but keep in mind that he's supposed to be the eventual right fielder. We heard those statements on the night that the Orioles drafted him.

He's projected to move quickly through the system once he enters it.

Santander is popular, largely productive when healthy and brings value to the Orioles, but that's also because of the way he's viewed by some teams.

The $2.1 million salary that Santander settled for after losing his arbitration case could make it a little easier to move him, though there wasn't a huge gap in proposals. Santander wanted $2.475 million.

I want to lose weight while eating an entire pizza and the cheesy bread, but life doesn't work that way. And I digress ...

Trading Santander would disappoint and, in some cases, infuriate fans who are clinging to players they can get excited about and make life in a rebuild at least a little more tolerable. But there's logic from a business standpoint. And if Diaz and Kjerstad are who we think they are (he says while pounding his fist on the podium), the complaints would be diminished.

Santander probably will bat third on opening day and get the bulk of the innings in right field with Trey Mancini expected to play first base. He'll keep trying to improve his plate discipline and pitch recognition - the five walks this spring are a positive sign - to improve a career .292 on-base percentage in 176 games. And he'll await one of multiple outcomes at the deadline.

He stays and the trade talks are revisited over the winter, with the possibility that he gets another raise and the Orioles figure out a different way to wedge Diaz in the outfield. He goes and the Orioles further deepen their pitching inventory or maybe find an upgrade at third base.

Appreciate Santander for what he is as a player and who he is as a person. Just don't get too attached.

Just in case.