Upgrades bring real value
In their new homes, several big names already settling in
George Springer, Trevor Bauer and Francisco Lindor are wearing blue now.
Springer received the biggest contract in the offseason from the Blue Jays. Bauer got the most money per season from the Dodgers. Lindor was traded to the Mets in a six-player deal.
The three star players headline the list of big names on new teams.
Springer, a three-time All-Star outfielder and 2017 World Series MVP with the Astros, signed a team-record six-year,
$150 million contract with the Blue Jays in January. He joined a roster that includes young sluggers Vladimir Guerrero and Bo Bichette, plus Cavan Biggio, Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel, Jr.
“I really like the blue. It’s a good color,” Springer said after his first spring training game with Toronto. “It was a little weird but I’m over it. It’s fun, and I enjoy it.”
Bauer, who won the NL Cy Young Award last season with the Reds, signed a threeyear, $102 million deal with the Dodgers last month.
The reigning World Series champions already had a pair of Cy Young Award winners in Clayton Kershaw and David Price.
“This uniform is special,” Bauer said in a two-minute video announcing his decision to sign with the Dodgers. “It’s more than clothing. It’s a lifestyle.”
Lindor, a four-time All-Star shortstop with the Indians, was traded along with right-hander Carlos Carrasco to the Mets in January for young infielders Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario, and two minor league prospects: right-hander Josh Wolf and outfielder Isaiah Greene.
He arrived to spring training with his
hair dyed blue, something he also did during his time with the Indians.
“You can see that I am all blued out,” Lindor said.
“Everything is blue in my life right now — blue and orange.”
Here are five more well-known players in different places:
3B Nolan Arenado, Cardinals: The fivetime All-Star was traded from the Rockies to the Cardinals for five players. Arenado, who won a Gold Glove in each of his eight seasons with the Rockies, joined a team that reached the postseason seven times in the last 10 years. The Cardinals last won a World Series in 2011.
Arenado hit .300 with a .937 OPS and averaged 40 HRs and 124 RBIs between 2015-19. He led the league in homers three times in that span.
LHP Blake Snell, Padres: The 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner was traded from the Rays to the Padres for four players in December. Snell left the mound with a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning of Game 6 of the World Series but the bullpen blew it, and the Dodgers clinched the title with a 3-1 win.
Snell had a 3.24 ERA in 11 starts last season. He was 21-5 with a 1.89 ERA in 2018. The Padres had the second-best record in the NL in 2020, snapping a 13-year postseason drought. But they were swept in the NL division series by the Dodgers.
Snell will anchor a rotation that features newcomers Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove.
RHP Yu Darvish, Padres: The four-time All-Star was traded to the Padres from the Cubs in a seven-player deal on the same day the Padress acquired Snell. Darvish has twice finished runner-up for a Cy Young Award, including last season when he was 8-3 with a 2.01 ERA in 12 starts.
Darvish has three years and $59 million left on the six-year, $126 million deal he signed with the Cubs before the 2018 season.
LHP Jon Lester, Nationals: The six-time All-Star signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Nationals. Lester is a three-time World Series champion, winning twice with the Red Sox and once with the Cubs.
He’s part of a rotation led by three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, 2019 World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg and lefty Patrick Corbin.
OF Jackie Bradley Jr., Brewers: The former All-Star signed a two-year, $24 million deal with the Brewers last week after spending his first eight seasons with the Red Sox.
Bradley was a Gold Glove winner in 2018 when the Red Sox won the World Series. He was an All-Star in 2016 when he set career highs with 26 HRs and 87 RBIs.
The Brewers, who have reached the postseason three straight seasons, also have Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain in its outfield.