Springer facing abnormal year to boost free-agent value.
Springer’s time in Houston could be winding down, but his infectious energy persists
George Springer screeches to break the silence of another summer camp workout. Specific day or time doesn’t matter. It happens during every Astros gathering in season or out, on the field or in the clubhouse, amid a pandemic or in a postseason push. Springer supplies some jolt, some reminder that he is here and provides the pulse of this team’s personality.
“Heyyy, Mike,” Springer shrieks. It lasts only a second. The unfamiliar might miss the message, muddled by Springer’s highpitched squeal.
Michael Brantley doesn’t. He turns to Springer, acknowledging his presence, and the two men continue their day. A ball hit to Josh Reddick in right field is often accompanied by “Get it, Red.” On Saturday, while Zack Greinke ran wind sprints in the outfield, Springer shouted to teammates, “Everyone tell Zack hi!” before team stretching began.
“Always brings his lively self, whether it be about baseball, about music, about picking on Mike or picking on me or vice versa, and we jump on him,” Reddick said. “He seems to give us that uplift whenever everybody needs it. It could be quiet in the clubhouse, and George is still over there dancing and doing his thing.”
Springer’s infectiousness is ingrained into this franchise’s fabric. If he does not play another game for the Astros after the 2020 season, Springer’s place in team history is secure. He is a homegrown talent who transformed from boy to ballplayer in front of the Minute Maid Park audience.
Whether they will see him again is a perplexing question. Financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic leaves an uncertain market for impending free agents. That Springer must face it is completely because of the Astros’ tactics under the previous front-office regime.
Delaying Springer’s big league debut to 2014 stalled his path toward free agency. It meant four years of arbitration control for the Astros. Had Houston handled him differently in 2013-14, Springer could have been the best outfielder available last winter, one rife with league-wide spending. Instead, he enters a period of uncertainty.
“It’s going to be interesting for him because I feel like someone like (Springer), of his status, is going to get kind of screwed out of some money that he could have very potentially made a lot of with this whole thing coming on,” said Reddick, a fellow free agent to be.
“That’s very unfortunate for him because he could have been somebody who made a lot of money in this game.”
Despite numerous requests, the Astros have not made Springer available to reporters since summer camp workouts began July 3. Springer has participated in all but one workout, one he missed while awaiting a delayed COVID-19 test result.
Springer had to play the 2020 season to ensure he enters the free market this winter. If the season is canceled, players will receive service time, pursuant to the March agreement between Major League
Baseball and the Players Association. Players have the power to opt out of the season. Thirteen have, among them Dodgers starter David Price, Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, Braves pitcher Felix Hernandez and Rockies outfielder Ian Desmond — a group with substantial service time and considerable career earnings.
“I’m not in the same predicament as someone who can opt out,” Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts told reporters this month. “I’m kind of in a different spot. My decision is gonna obviously be different.”
Players who opt out of the season and are not labeled “high risk” do not accrue service time. Betts will be the best player available this winter. Springer is just behind. He is only one day shy of reaching free agency, a brutal result of the Astros’ exploitation of his service clock.
Springer stayed a minor leaguer until April 16, 2014. Any available metric indicated he was a major league player long before. He mauled minor league pitching throughout the 2013 season, posting a 1.010 OPS in 589 plate appearances across Class AA and AAA. The Astros did not call him up that September, nor did they include him on their 2014 opening-day roster.
Service time manipulation is not exclusive to the Astros, though Yordan Alvarez was an obvious victim last season. Teams across baseball practice the tactic so much that it seems to be normalizing. Philadelphia Phillies infielder Alec Bohm, the sport’s 30th-best prospect, told reporters this week it’d be “a smart business move” for the Phillies to leave him off their opening-day roster.
“I’m not going to hold any grudge over it or raise a stink about it,” Bohm said. “It’s part of the game. Everybody’s gone through it.”
In 2013, when Springer was still a prospect, former Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow offered him a pre-arbitration contract extension. Springer declined, and the team started his season in the minor leagues.
In 2014, the Chronicle reported that Springer’s agent at the time, Greg Genske, and the union were exploring a grievance against the team for its service time manipulation. Genske no longer represents Springer.
Springer’s visibility and vibrance on the field do not extend off of it. He does not have a public Instagram account. A verified Twitter account that bears his name has one post — “#tweet” — from Nov. 14, 2017.
Eleven days earlier, Springer paraded through downtown Houston with a World Series trophy. He won Most Valuable Player honors after hitting five home runs in the seven-game victory over the Dodgers. Coupled with a regular season of 34 home runs and an .889 OPS, Springer’s hype skyrocketed.
That February, the Astros attempted to take Springer to an arbitration hearing. Under Luhnow, the team was a “file and trial” club — meaning negotiations stopped after the January deadline to exchange salary figures.
One day before Springer’s scheduled hearing, the two sides agreed to a two-year, $24 million deal. Springer was destined for an arbitration hearing this year, too, if not for Luhnow’s dismissal.
Three days after he fired Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch, owner Jim Crane — then overseeing baseball operations — settled with Springer for a $21 million salary, avoiding an always awkward hearing. Aledmys Diaz, meanwhile, went to a hearing and won.
A day after settling with Springer, and while still operating as baseball operations head, Crane said a desire to work out a contract extension was “made clear to George and his agent.”
“We love George. That’s one of our core guys, and we hope we can get that done and see if that works,” Crane said.
What wasn’t to love last year? Even though a hamstring injury limited him to 122 games, Springer produced career bests of 39 homers, 96 RBIs and a .974 OPS.
Crane and new Astros general manager James Click “have talked about” retaining Springer, Click said. In June, Crane said “we’re in a position to be aggressive, no matter what the (free agent) market looks like.” The team had a $210 million payroll entering 2020.
Just $115 million in guaranteed money remains committed in 2021, according to Spotrac. Springer, Brantley and Reddick are all free agents. Beyond Kyle Tucker and Myles Straw, the Astros’ outfield depth is nonexistent.
In February, Springer said it was “way too early” to discuss his long-term future. He heaped praise onto the organization, even if it tried to take advantage of his service time. If any resentment remains, Springer has not expressed it publicly. Springer remains open to anything. The market he will enter almost necessitates it.
“The city has been great to me,” Springer said in February. “I’ve grown up as an adult there, I guess. I’ve been in this organization since I was 21 years old. This organization has been very special to me, but time will tell.”
First, he must finish this 60game season, one with no fans and inevitable lulls. Energy may be nonexistent. Silence will greet any and all accomplishment. The Astros’ search for a spark starts and ends with Springer. Manager Dusty Baker will bat him leadoff, evoking the skipper’s longstanding memories of Tommie Agee or Bobby Bonds. Both could change a scoreboard with one swing.
“This guy can play, and he loves to play,” Baker said. “He works hard, but he enjoys playing. And it’s a pleasure to watch him play. You can tell the joy that he has in playing.”