Houston Astros: Ownership needs to go all in on George Springer
George Springer is going to hit free agency after this season and the Houston Astros would be wise to sign him to an extension.
There are very few players who were with the Houston Astros when they were consistently losing games at the start of this decade. There are a handful of players who were drafted and developed in-house and have become fan favorites. George Springer checks both those boxes.
We have witnessed Springer hit .231 and flounder as a 24 year-old on a 92 loss team. We have also seen him rise to become a World Series MVP and make three consecutive All-Star teams. Now it is time for us to see him signed to a long term contract keeping him in the Bayou City.
Unless the Astros can extend him (which at this point seems highly unlikely), Springer will hit free agency this offseason and could be calling another city home come baseball time next year.
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The former first round draft pick knows no other franchise than the one he is currently playing for and the city has embraced him as their own.
His on the field production has justified his popularity among fans. In just 122 games this past year he had career highs in all major offensive categories leading the Astros to another World Series.
Springer is a career .271 hitter in the postseason with 15 home runs. There isn’t an Astros player in history with as many playoff homers as Springer.
Testing free agency for the first time and having nine-digit contracts thrown his way will be intriguing.
The Astros have $110M locked up in four contracts after this year, though Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke and $68M will come off the books following the 2021 season. Would Springer be willing to take some kind of home town discount to keep the homegrown band together? He may not have to.
The Astros have already done right by Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman, signing them to contract extensions and padding their wallets nicely.
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Time for the Houston Astros ownership to invest in the future again, and bring back George Springer.