Over the weekend, I did an emotionally fraught thing.

I spent some time watching old highlights of Anthony Santander, a beloved outfielder who is most likely not coming back to the Orioles.

When the news broke late Saturday night that Baltimore had agreed to a deal with Tyler O’Neill, the muscle-bound slugger who most recently played outfield for the Rex Sox, the writing on the wall was clear to everyone: Santander is on his way out. O’Neill’s signing is, in a way, only the final confirmation of the long-held sense that Baltimore would be parting ways with the 30-year-old switch-hitting Venezuelan, who finished the season as the organization’s longest-tenured player.

There has been a lot of bad Orioles baseball between his first season in 2017 and now, but man, has there been a lot of good. During the bad years, Santander was one of the brightest silver linings on teams that otherwise lacked much ambition or hope.

He has been a naturally warm and buoyant presence in the clubhouse. Team translator Brandon Quinones is famously “my man” to Santander, but also, it was never hard to earn his good graces. One thing you notice scanning through the highlights of walk-off hits over the last few seasons is even when Santander didn’t hit them himself (and he hit a few), he was nearly always the one carrying the Gatorade cooler over to dump its contents all over that day’s hero. Try to get through this team video of Santander delivering a heart-felt message to his mom without getting misty-eyed — it’s almost impossible.

The challenge that Orioles fans must face is continuing to find joy in those memories — while also accepting that moving on from Santander is probably a prudent decision.

O’Neill helps fill a glaring hole for Baltimore against lefties. He’s elite with his bat speed and barreling up pitches, but he also walks a lot. Even though Santander slugged an eye-popping 44 homers last season — a franchise record for a switch-hitter — his average (.235) and on-base percentage (.308) slipped. He’s nearing an age where that decline feels significant. In the playoffs, Santander was one of many disappointments in the lineup, getting just one hit and no walks in eight plate appearances.

When you look at O’Neill’s profile, you can see that the Orioles can get similar production with good upside, probably with a lower price tag than they would have had to shell out for Santander.

The 29-year-old Canadian has a dodgy injury history, but if he needs some days off, the Orioles have the ability to give Heston Kjerstad more time in right field and get the platoon ability they desire from their lineup to match up with righties and lefties. Once Santander signs elsewhere, the Orioles will earn a draft pick after extending him a qualifying offer, so it’s good business from just about every angle.

So then you might ask yourself — if this is good business, why does this deal make you feel a little glum? And how much worse will that feeling get if Santander takes a big-money deal elsewhere in the AL East?

When a team is as bad as the Orioles were for those rebuilding years, fans adapt by collecting the smallest grains of hope amidst the famine. As much as belief has been poured into Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday among other young stars, players like Santander occasionally made those dark years feel like they weren’t totally pitch black — like there was a kernel of inspiration within a franchise twirling around helplessly in MLB’s doldrums.

The fact that Santander was able to be a part of exciting seasons in 2022, 2023 and 2024 added a sense of satisfaction to the rise back to relevance. He was a survivor. For fans who held onto that core through the rebuild, it made them feel like survivors, too.

But with the players the Orioles have, with the team’s goal to win a World Series, it’s not merely enough to survive. This team has to grow. Hopefully we see more ambition in free agency after O’Neill’s $49.5 million deal, but I have to acknowledge general manager Mike Elias’ bloodless decisions to move on from rebuild mainstays — such as fan favorite Trey Mancini, All-Star closer Jorge López and outfielder Austin Hays — have largely worked out.

Mancini and Lopez struggled after leaving Baltimore, and Hays’ injuries caught up with him in Philadelphia. None of them proved to be players who, as well-liked as they may have been here, would have significantly moved the needle toward a championship. It felt worse saying goodbye to them than it actually has been to carry on without them.

With Santander’s future destination yet to be decided, fans should best reserve a flood of sentiment lest he end up in pinstripes, which seems like a distinct possibility after the Yankees were spurned by Juan Soto. The bonus of flipping O’Neill from a division rival will feel somewhat lost if Santander resumes hitting dingers in Camden Yards for the Yankees, Blue Jays or perhaps even the Red Sox in a de facto swap of outfielders.

But it’s OK to wish Santander well in general. It’s OK to hope that the big-hearted bear of an outfielder lands well and continues to make money and keeps playing the game with the joy we’ve come to share.

Saying farewell can still be bittersweet, even if actually moving on won’t hurt as much as we thought it would.