Free Agent Poll: George Springer

I’m stealing an idea from Lone Star Ball. It isn’t the first time I’ve stolen from them. The idea is to go through some of the top free agents, use the contract FanGraphs suggests they will get and have a poll asking if we would like to sign him for that amount.

George Springer is the #1 free agent on Keith Law’s list, #2 on FanGraphs list. Craig Edwards suggests he’ll sign for 5-years and $115 million, $23 million a year.

Springer played 42 games in center field this year. He’s played all 3 outfield spots but mostly right and center in his career. He’s been slightly above average in center career, but then he’s 31 now, so we can expect him to lose a bit of range over the next few years. At the moment, I’d think we’d agree that he would be a better CF than Grichuk, but not a Gold Glove type.

With the bat, he has power and gets on base. This season he hit .265/.359/.540 with 14 home runs. Keith Law said:

He’s regularly among the league leaders in exit velocity and barrels per PA or per batted-ball event, slipping this past year slightly after finishing in the top 20 in those categories in the full season of 2019.

Law also says that 5 of Springer’s 15 home runs came on pitches 95 mph or higher.

How much do we discount his offensive numbers due to the Astros garbage pail banging? That is a good question. He hit well this year, and we can be reasonably sure they didn’t cheat this year. Or if they did, they are getting better at hiding it.

Springer could be a 5-win player for the next few years. At the contract’s end, he will be 36. Some drop in numbers might be expected by the end of the contract.