On January 27, 2021, George Springer appeared in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform for the first time. There wasn’t the dog and pony show of a typical press conference; his unveiling came via Zoom because COVID-19 lockdowns still had most of the population sequestered.

Six years can fly by in the blink of an eye. Just like that, George Springer’s six-year deal with the Blue Jays is over.

This past Sunday, both he and Max Scherzer got proper sendoffs from the Blue Jays faithful. It may also have been both veterans’ farewell to playing professional baseball altogether.

There may be a scenario where it makes sense for Springer to return to the Blue Jays, but in the event that he doesn’t, he accomplished his mission, which was leaving the Blue Jays organization better than he found it. And it’s not hyperbole to say his contract was a turning point for the Blue Jays organization.

Many will point towards the signing of Hyun-Jin Ryu in December 2019 as the moment that ushered in a new era of Blue Jays baseball. It was the first time since Russell Martin’s five-year, $82-million contract signed in November 2014 that the Blue Jays were major players in the free-agent market.

While the Ryu signing was the Blue Jays flexing their financial muscle, the Springer signing elevated the Blue Jays into a whole new echelon. The Blue Jays were rumoured to have outbid Steve Cohen and the New York Mets for Springer’s services, and MLB suddenly took notice of the Blue Jays as significant players in the free agent market.

“I think it’s funny how everybody just thinks they know what someone’s going to do,” Springer told MLB Network back in January 2021. “I wanted to go where I believed I was going to be happy.”

What followed Springer was a steady stream of marquee roster additions: adding veteran Marcus Semien days after the Springer deal was announced, the Jose Berrios trade at the 2021 trade deadline, signing Kevin Gausman in December 2021, signing Chris Bassitt in 2022, and acquiring Daulton Varsho during the winter of 2022.

One after the other, the Blue Jays finally started behaving like the big-market team they should have been. There’s no doubt that adding a player of Springer’s cachet was the first move to set up many of those subsequent signings and trades.

Bringing Springer aboard also changed the dynamic of the team, adding his veteran savvy and postseason pedigree to a team that had little to no postseason experience. It took a while for the Blue Jays to get cooking, but eventually all these moves fell into place, as the Blue Jays went on a sustained run of three playoff appearances in six years once Springer joined the roster.

It also helped that he authored one of the top five hits in franchise history, a swing that sent the Blue Jays to their first World Series in 32 years. The “Springer dinger” is this generation’s Jose Bautista bat flip, or Joe Carter’s “Touch ’em all, Joe” moment. Jays fans will remember for decades to come exactly where they were when Springer hit that home run.

Springer’s contract was also significant because it marked the first time the Blue Jays ever signed a free agent contract in excess of five years. For the longest time during the Paul Beeston era, the Blue Jays had a self-imposed five-year contract policy, which took the Blue Jays out of the running for many marquee free agents over the years.

Handing six-year deals to outfielders in their early 30s always comes with its risks, but Springer’s deal is one that aged fairly well. Year five of his deal in 2025 was the most productive year of the contract at 5.2 fWAR, and in terms of total value, he provided $124.6 million of value according to FanGraphs’ Value metric.

It’s a little short of the $150 million the Blue Jays paid him, but considering that Springer may have been teetering on the edge of DFA territory after his 2024 season, the fact that he saw this thing to the very end is a small miracle in itself.

Without Springer, the Blue Jays likely wouldn’t have made it to the World Series in 2025. His on-field contributions anchored a potent Blue Jays lineup, complemented by teammates like Semien, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Teoscar Hernandez. Although it feels like eons ago, the Blue Jays of 2021 and 2025 were world-beaters in the offensive department.

As players like Semien and Hernandez departed, and Vladdy and Bichette experienced rough patches or missed significant time due to injuries, Springer held down the fort at the top of the order for the Blue Jays.

More importantly, Springer signified the transformation of Toronto into a big-market city for baseball. He triggered a winning chapter of baseball for the Blue Jays in the 2020s.

Springer has yet to decide whether 2026 was his final curtain call on playing professional baseball, but if it was, fans will look back fondly on the Springer era of Blue Jays baseball.

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