Blue Jays introduce George Springer
George Springer started his big-league career with a Houston club that had a great young core and quickly became post-season regulars.
The new Toronto outfielder sees a lot of similarities between the youthful base from those strong Astros teams and the youngsters who make up the Blue Jays’ nucleus.
“It is a young lineup but it’s a very talented, advanced younger lineup,” Springer said. “I think everything that I’ve heard and everything that I’ve seen is that they’re very, very ambitious, that they want to win and they work hard. That’s pretty much awesome. It’s awesome to see.”
Springer was introduced by the Blue Jays on a video call Wednesday after his six-year contract became official over the weekend. The US$150million deal was a franchise record for a team that’s on a win-now course after returning to the playoffs last summer as a wild-card entry.
Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said Springer brings a long list of attributes to the club, including experience, reliability, dependability, character and impact-player skills.
“We think that’s the perfect fit for our team,” he said. “Where we are now and where we’re headed.”
Springer, 31, put on a cap and buttoned his white Blue Jays uniform at the start of the 40minute call with reporters, adding with a smile that it was “a good fit.”
“At the end of the day I wanted to go to where I believed I was going to be happy,” Springer said. “And I believe I am.”
Springer debuted with the Astros in 2014 and spent seven seasons with the team. He was the World Series MVP in 2017 and won the AL Silver Slugger Award in 2018 and ’19.
The Blue Jays, meanwhile, made ALCS appearances in 2015-16 before entering a threeyear rebuild.
The signing of Hyun-Jin Ryu in December 2019 showed that a franchise turn was approaching. Opening the free-agent wallet again for Springer showed that long-discussed future plans were now at hand.
Ryu served as the rock of the rotation last season and youngsters like Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., started to blossom as the Jays improved to 3228.
“The way that the front office has really gotten behind their guys, the message is that they really believe in this team,” Springer said. “That’s obviously really important to me.”
It has been a busy month for Canada’s lone bigleague club. The Blue Jays also recently signed right-handers Tyler Chatwood and Kirby Yates, the 2019 MLB saves leader, to one-year deals.