The biggest contract in Toronto Blue Jays history has become an albatross.

Back in January of 2021, the team inked former World Series MVP George Springer to a six-year, $150 million contract, surpassing the seven-year, $126 million deal that homegrown star Vernon Wells signed in December of 2006.

Wells slashed a .267/.321/.450 line in four inconsistent seasons between 2007 and 2011 and it was viewed as a significant win when Alex Anthopoulos was able to dump the latter part of his contract on the Los Angeles Angels. Now four seasons into his career with the Blue Jays, Springer has a slash line of .251/.328/.436. That’s very similar production to what Wells had when he was viewed as having one of the worst contracts in baseball.

Welcome to Blue Jays Nation’s annual Player Review series. Today, we’ll look back at the year that was for George Springer.

After finishing just below average with 4.60 runs scored per game during the 2023 season, the Blue Jays hoped that the internal improvement of four players would help drive a turnaround at the plate. Instead, Toronto was even worse in 2024, as they finished 23rd in baseball with 4.14 runs scored per game.

Among those players was the team’s leadoff hitter. Springer came as advertised during his first two seasons with the Blue Jays in 2021 and 2022 but declined to numbers well below his career norm in 2023, including a slash line of .258/.327/.405 with 21 home runs over 683 trips to the plate.

The 2024 season started with a bang for Springer, as he hit home runs in the team’s first two games against the Tampa Bay Rays. That power surge ended quickly, though, as Springer had just three home runs by the end of April.

A few weeks into May, Springer had an on-base plus slugging percentage below .600 and the Blue Jays finally opted to move him out of the leadoff spot and into the lower part of the lineup. He responded to the change with his strongest stretch offensively of the season, posting a .250 batting average and .797 OPS with eight home runs and nine doubles from mid-May to the All-Star break.

The good times dried up after the Midsummer Classic for Springer. He struggled to a .165 batting average and .607 OPS in August and started in only 17 games in September so that team could give playing time to prospects who were called up following the trade deadline.

The 34-year-old finished the season with career-lows in batting average (.220), on-base percentage (.303), and slugging percentage (.371). Though the bat wasn’t where the team needed it to be, Springer led the Blue Jays with 16 stolen bases and he provided solid defence for the team in right field.

The Blue Jays need to go into the off-season without the expectation that Springer is going to be a top-of-the-lineup bat for the team in 2025. They hoped that he could rebound in 2024 but he wound up taking a step back from what he produced in 2023. Adding a new leadoff hitter should be a priority for Toronto this winter.