Where George Springer’s contract ranks among the best deals in Blue Jays history

With the 2026 season in the books for the Toronto Blue Jays, it is very possible that George Springer has played his final game for the team. 2026 was the last year of a six-year deal Springer signed with the Blue Jays before the 2021 season. While nothing is for certain, signs are certainly pointing towards this being it for Springer in Toronto.

The deal was the biggest free agent signing in Blue Jays history at the time, only being topped by Dylan Cease’s seven-year $210 million deal this past off-season. Springer had some pretty rough lows with the Blue Jays but also some of the highest highs in franchise history. With that said, where does his deal rank among all-time Blue Jays contracts?

An important distinction to make when comparing deals is that this only includes free agent contracts. Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s massive extension or José Bautista’s franchise changing extension don't count.

Breaking down George Springer’s contract and whether or not it paid off for Toronto

The first order of business is to break down how Springer performed against the value of his contract. Springer played six seasons with the Blue Jays, logging 776 games and 3,325 plate appearances. In that time he posted a slash line of .260/.340/.452, with a 122 wRC+ and 15.6 fWAR.

Springer ranks 13th in Blue Jays history in wRC+ and 21st in fWAR among position players. For counting stats, he ranks 11th in home runs with 134, 13th in runs scored with 474 and 20th in RBI at 392. 

The ups of Springer’s time in Toronto were fantastic. He produced 6.6 fWAR with a 135 wRC+ across the 2021 and 2022 seasons while slashing .266/.346/.502. 2025 saw Springer produce the best offensive numbers of his career, slashing .309/.399/.560 with a 166 wRC+ and 5.2 fWAR. His OBP, wRC+ and wOBA in 2025 are all career highs.

With that said, the downs of Springer’s time with the Blue Jays were not pretty. Across 2023 and 2024, he posted a mere 2.8 fWAR and 99 wRC+. 2026 was also not the Springer we were used to, finishing the season with 0.9 fWAR and a 105 wRC+.

Springer’s contract with the Blue Jays was for six-years and $150 million. This means that the Blue Jays paid Springer $9,615,384.62 per fWAR produced over the duration of the contract.

Here’s how Springer’s deal stacks up against some more of the Blue Jays biggest contracts.

*Only includes money paid by Blue Jays, not other organizations

Aside from the massive outlier that is Anthony Santander, Springer’s value has been at least comparable to the rest of the Blue Jays' biggest free agent deals.

It makes the most sense to compare Springer’s deal to the Gausman and Martin contracts, as those two played the majority of their deal with the Blue Jays. Cease needs more time with the team before his deal can properly be included in these comparisons.

Of those three, Springer had the least production on a rate basis, as seen by the $ per fWAR figure. That is largely because there were essentially two different versions of Springer throughout the deal. The All-Star level version seen in 2021, 2022 and 2025, and the player who was essentially replacement level in 2023, 2024 and 2026.

This must all be taken into account of course, but that opens another question. How much is peak valued in this kind of conversation as opposed to longevity? Do the three years of Springer playing at an All-Star level make up for the three years where he was subpar?

Springer’s 5.2 fWAR in 2025 is just short of being the highest fWAR in a season among this group, trailing Gausman’s 2022 (5.5) and 2023 (5.3) seasons. It should also be noted that Springer played at a pace of 4.9 fWAR per 650 plate appearances in 2021, but missed half the year due to multiple IL stints.

The Blue Jays also have some big hits on short term deals, like Marcus Semien, who signed a one-year, $18 million deal for the 2021 season and posted a 5.9 fWAR campaign. However the volume is not nearly that of the rest of the deals mentioned.

In terms of strict value, Springer’s contract roughly grades out at a B, as the down years are just too glaring to ignore, however there is another aspect to consider. Springer had a fantastic postseason in 2025, slashing .284/.347/.552 with a 147 wRC+ during the Blue Jays run to the World Series. He also hit a pretty big home run.

Springer’s go-ahead home run in Game 7 of the 2025 ALCS against the Seattle Mariners is without a doubt one of the single biggest moments in franchise history. The moment tops the likes of Bautista’s bat flip and Edwin Encarnación’s walk-off against the Baltimore Orioles in the 2016 Wild Card game and is alongside moments like Joe Carter’s walk-off to win the 1993 World Series.

With all of that said, it can be determined that Springer’s contract is on the upper echelon of Blue Jays free agent deals. Between the regular season play, overall contract value, the big moments and even off-the-field meaning that cannot necessarily be quantified, his deal is among one of the best that the franchise has ever signed.

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