I think Astros will make Springer a competitive offer. I just worry that other teams get tired of losing to the Astros and make an offer George can't refuse much like the Yankees did with Cole.
mookie betts 10 years between 350-400 million are the rumors. So for Springer, would a fair offer be 7 years 245 million at 35 million a year. Would you pay Springer until age 37?
Shouldn’t their whole team now have to be quarantined of sorts? Will be interesting to see if this yields any positive tests for the Astros... but it will also be quite the harbinger of things to come should it impact them significantly as there will be more asymptomatic players that randomly end up testing positive as well throughout the season.
Springer was about as good as Betts last season (6.5 fWAR vs 6.6 fWAR). Obviously Betts is worth a lot more given his age and better long term track record, but if a team thinks Springer has 2-3 more near-MVP caliber seasons him followed by 3-4 more seasons as an above average regular (which would come out to him putting up 15-25 war over the next 6 seasons), $160M/6yrs is a very fair value. There’s a ton of uncertainty in projecting the free agent market next offseason, so of course I could be way off. But going on the traditional $/war calculations, I think $160M/6yr is about what he should be expecting.
Cain’s $80M/5yr was always Springer’s floor. Cain’s value was mostly in his speed and defense, things that don’t age well; Cain never hit more than 16 HR in a season. Springer is a totally different player with a much different projected aging profile. If I am looking for a comp in terms of value/skills, maybe Curtis Granderson?
They are saying 12 years 350 on top of this years 27 I wonder what George would say if we threw 5/100 at him right now?
Other than Maldanado, he was never really close to any of our guys? He struck out twice, I guess the one time he put it in play he would have jogged past Yuli or Jones, whoever was in the game at the time.
I think some of you are underestimating Springer's value. I believe he will command a 5 or 6 year deal near 25 million per season. Mookie is getting paid until he is 40. it won't be unreasonable for Springer to want a deal through the age of 37. If the price gets more than 6 years 150 million, I would rather retain Brantley for 2-3 years around 18-20 million per.
Pre-Covid I would agree with this. I know Betts is getting this deal today, but I still doubt free agency next offseason will look anything like it did this past year. Springer is my favorite player....but I agree, if it gets over 150 I would move on to Brantley. Even if some of our young pitchers end up coming through, we will need some money for a front of the rotation arm fairly soon also
Free agency will still be good for elite players. Its the older or middle-tier players that are hurt by the new collusion effects and/or any pandemic related cutbacks. Springer is neither old nor middle-tier.... yet is not quite elite either. Was on track for that last year before the injury. His playoff experience/performance (like Correa's) will not be ignored. As it is, these guys rarely will play the entire length of their contract with the same team... unless that team is still contending. The Astros currently employ a few of those guys as a prime example. Thus, if you're willing to pay market value for the player now... and for the duration of their prime years... then its almost obligatory to add the additional sub-prime years to get the player to agree (or if you're competing against another team), with the mindset that you'll be convincing them to waive the no-trade clause around that time if the team is in a rebuild.
Time will tell, I don't think it is that simple I would guess some owners have taken a much larger loss financially (outside of baseball) than others. I would guess owners who are heavily in Oil and Gas will be in worse shape financially than someone who is in something like Shipping. An owner who has taken a huge financial hit outside of baseball, and in baseball also, will probably be less likely to give out the huge deals. I do think a guy like Springer has a bit more of an open market than say a guy who really only plays 1 position and could be blocked. If a team has a great CF already they could still be interested in Springer to play RF/LF, and pretty much all of the big spending teams can create an opening in the OF somewhere. Would love to have George be a lifetime Astro
Didn't even get as much as Mahomes? SAD! $30.4M AAV Outfielder Mookie Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in agreement on a 12-year, $365 million contract extension. Combined with the one-year, $27 million deal he’s currently under, the total is 13 years and $392 million. Betts’ deal will run through the 2032 season. It also includes a record $65 million signing bonus.
With Betts off the market Springer is probably the premier free agent hitter or at worst 2nd best. The other guys will be Realmuto, maybe JD Martinez if he opts out, and Marcus Semien. Springer will be the best available OF and also capable of playing CF a few more seasons. He's going to get paid. Jason Heyward is making 23 million. Will Myers is making 22.5 million. Justin Upton is making 21 million. Springer is at least a 25 million a year player Covid or not.
So...I don’t doubt that Springer will get paid. But I wouldn’t use JHey, Myers, or Upton as prime examples why. All 3 were widely considered to be vastly overpaid and were signed several offseasons ago. We saw a cap on spending the past few offseasons because of contracts like those.
In the end, there’s really only a handful of teams/owners who can ever afford a big deal from year to year. The Astros happen to be one of those teams during these years. We no longer see teams that aren’t in contention spending money simply because they want fans. That has limited the market immensely.
