Former outfielder George Springer and the Toronto Blue Jays have agreed a six-year, $ 150 million contract, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Springer heads to the Blue Jays ’spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida, to exercise. If all goes according to plan, Toronto will get the star it has been looking for all winter.
Springer, the pin of the Houston Astros ’offense in the lead over the past four seasons, was one of the most coveted free agents on the market this offseason. This season he hit a maximum of 14 homers per team and added four more in the postseason, as the Astros lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Series Championship.
While several of his teammates fought offensively last season amid the aftermath of the 2017 sign theft scandal, Springer, who won $ 21 million in a one-year contract after avoiding arbitration, has continued to get better numbers since then: hit. with 32 RBI in 51 games in 2020, while lowering its attack rate to 17.1%, the best career.
He aired a one-year qualifying offer of $ 18.9 million from the Astros, who will get a signature compensation selection with a new team.
Before the reduced 2020 pandemic season, Springer hit 20 homers in five of the previous six seasons. He won three consecutive All-Star gestures from 2017 to 19 and was named MVP of the 2017 World Series in 2017, when the Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.
Springer has been his best moment during the big moments, getting 19 postseason homers, with his fourth all-time tie. It also ranks sixth in slugging percentage (0.546), seventh in extra-base hits (34) and is tied for 14th in scoring runs (43).
Since making his debut in 2014, Springer has been one of the best hitters out of the lead in all of baseball, ranking second in home runs (136), third in RBI (352) and fourth in hits (665) and extra- base hits (254), according to ESPN Stats & Information. In addition, he has scored 39 times during his career with a first-round home run, which ranks fourth in American League history.
In 2019, Springer set career highs with a batting average of .292, a batting percentage of .591, a batting percentage of .383 and 6.2 WAR (earnings above spare).
Defensively, Springer remains very solid as a center fielder every day at the age of 31 and, if necessary, could easily slide into any of the corners off the pitch.
Overall, in seven seasons with the Astros, Springer has a career average of .270 with 174 homers and 458 homers.
Blue Jays Nation first reported the deal Tuesday night, while MLB Network had the first ones.