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The Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to sign free agent center fielder George Springer. The deal is for six years and $ 150 million, confirms Jim Bowden of CBS Sports headquarters.
Springer, 31, spent the first seven years of his career with the Astros, forming three All-Star teams and posting some of the best postseason power figures in recent memory.
In the shortened 2020 season, Springer hit .265 / .359 / .540 (140 OPS +) with 14 home runs, 32 RBI and 37 runs. In 2019, his season was reduced to 122 games due to injury, but he hit .292 / .383 / .591 (150 OPS +) with 39 home runs, 96 RBIs and 96 runs. He finished seventh in the MVP vote despite the shortened campaign.
In 63 career playoff games, Springer has reached .269 / .349 / .546 with 15 doubles, 19 homers, 38 RBIs and 43 runs. He won the 2017 World Series MVP after reaching 0.379 with a 1.471 OPS, three doubles and five homers in seven games. In 14 career World Series games, he’s a .339 / .456 / .839 hitter. He is fourth in the career playoffs behind Manny Ramirez, Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter.
The postseason pedigree seems to fit well with a relatively inexperienced group that rebounded in two games against the Rays in the first round of last year.
There is also some serious thunder in the Blue Jays lineup, Springer edging out Cavan Biggio (122 OPS + last year), Bo Bichette (127), Teoscar Hernandez (146) Lourdes Gurriel (139) and Vladimir Guerrero (115) .
After a trio of fourth place and under .500, the Jays went 32-28 last season, securing the eighth and final playoff spot for the AL, although they had a better record than the Astros, the former Springer team, which was in sixth place due to the second place AL West. Young Jays started 7-11 and also enjoyed a six-game losing streak in September. The hope would be that with the extra year of experience for some of the positional players, the addition of Springer and the full season, they will be both more consistent and less harmed by smaller episodes of inconsistency.
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