George Springer was worth every penny of his Blue Jays contract

With all signs pointing to Sunday as George Springer’s final game with the Toronto Blue Jays, it's time to take a trip down memory lane.

His six years in Toronto included some epic highs and agonizing lows. His 2026 season became the perfect embodiment of his tenure, with a frustrating injury alongside several great moments.

Springer kept his smile, energy, and competitiveness through it all, leaving little doubt how he will be remembered as a Blue Jay when he officially calls it a career. 

What does George Springer mean to the Blue Jays? 

The Blue Jays were a team on the rise when they signed Springer ahead of the 2021 season. He was an established star joining a young core—headlined by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette—on the cusp of taking the baseball world by storm. 

Springer’s six-year, $150-million contract was the richest in franchise history at the time, having only recently been surpassed by the mega-deals handed to Guerrero and Dylan Cease. He was the first elite position player to choose Toronto in a long time, spurning several big American clubs to come to Canada. 

Signing Springer legitimized a new era of Blue Jays baseball. It established Toronto as a major player in the free agent market, a reputation that has since been built upon with the acquisitions of Kevin Gausman, Anthony Santander, and most recently Cease. 

The deal wasn’t considered a slam dunk, however, given Springer’s age at the time (31) and injury history. Many justifiably wondered how his body would hold up over the course of the contract, and those skeptics were quickly validated in their concerns.

Injuries limited Springer to just 78 games in 2021, a season in which the Blue Jays were eliminated from postseason contention on the final day of the season. Springer was an All-Star in 2022 yet only appeared in just 133 games when it was all said and done. 

Things took an unexpected turn the next two seasons as Springer stayed healthy, but his offensive production fell off a cliff. His OPS cratered to .674 in 2024 as the Blue Jays limped to a last-place finish in the American League East. He looked to have nothing left in the tank—then he proved everyone wrong. 

Springer’s 2025 campaign is one of the greatest offensive seasons in the history of the Blue Jays. He hit 32 home runs while setting new career-highs in batting average (.309) as well as OPS (160) en route to a seventh-place finish in AL MVP voting as a pure designated hitter. 

Then, if that wasn’t enough, he delivered one of the franchise’s most iconic swings in Game 7 of the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners.

Unfortunately, 2026 wasn’t nearly as kind to Springer—or any of his teammates, for that matter. A fractured toe hampered his production early on, but he still managed to get into 126 games while producing at a league-average rate at the ripe young age of 37. 

Will he now retire? It’s certainly possible, but hardly a guarantee. A one-year reunion with the Houston Astros would certainly be a poetic way to end his career. Or perhaps another contender will scoop him up to deploy in a platoon against left-handed pitching.

Whatever he decides, it’s clear Springer’s value goes deeper than his statistics. He was a terrific ambassador for the Blue Jays from the moment he arrived. He always gave his absolute best, whether he was launching a home run, giving back in the community, or starring in a silly TV commercial. 

So, if this truly is it, let it be said with no doubt: George Springer was worth every penny.

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