Blue Jays apologize to Muslim community and fans in wake of Santander’s posts

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins, speaking Tuesday at Major League Baseball’s GM meetings in Las Vegas, said he recently spoke with Santander and asked him to publicly address the controversy.

However, Santander has yet to publicly comment or apologize. The 32-year-old Venezuelan and the sports management agency that represents him have not responded to multiple messages.

“There really aren’t words to express my level of disappointment,” Atkins told reporters.

Santander shared posts in the aftermath of the U.S. midterm elections last week.

The videos included a Christian preacher saying, “There is no such thing as kind Muslims,” with another suggesting Sharia law would be imposed on the U.S. after Abdul El-Sayed was elected to the Senate in Michigan.

Santander didn’t play at the big-league level last season due to injuries. He signed a five-year, US$92.5-million deal with Toronto in January 2025.

The Blue Jays are the only MLB team in Canada, which has a population of over 1.78 million Muslims, per 2021 census data from Statistics Canada. About 10 per cent of Toronto’s 2.8 million residents identify as Muslim, the agency said.

Steven Zhou, the media and communications lead for the National Council of Canadian Muslims, did not immediately return a message seeking reaction to the team statement.

In an interview this week, Zhou said Santander’s posts had a significant impact on the community.

“I think some people might be surprised at just how many Muslims are fans of baseball and the Blue Jays, and Toronto is a massive sports city,” Zhou said. “The kind of response I’ve gotten from our community members from different circles, from various people, has been unbelievable. People are very, very upset.”

It remains unclear whether the Blue Jays will discipline Santander. There are also unanswered questions remaining about how potential social media policy and morality clause contract violations might be handled.

Messages left with the team, and club owner Rogers Communications Inc., on those subjects were not immediately returned.

Santander hit 44 homers for the Baltimore Orioles in 2024 but hit just .175 with six homers over 54 games in an injury-plagued 2025 season with Toronto.

He’s expected to be healthy for the 2027 season and become an everyday player again.

Spring training is scheduled to begin in February but there is a strong possibility an MLB lockout will begin next month when the current collective bargaining agreement expires.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2026.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Blue Jays apologize to Muslim community and fans in wake of Santander’s posts

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