{"id":815889,"date":"2026-09-27T23:15:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T23:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/815889\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T23:15:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T23:15:22","slug":"george-springer-non-committal-about-playing-in-2027","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/815889\/","title":{"rendered":"George Springer Non-Committal About Playing In 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"

After singling in the third inning and advancing to second base on a JJ Bleday<\/a> fielding error, George Springer<\/a> was removed from today\u2019s game for pinch-runner Sean Keys<\/a>.\u00a0 The move allowed the Toronto fans to give Springer a standing ovation in what may be the final game of both Springer\u2019s Blue Jays tenure and his 13-year Major League career.<\/p>\n

The six-year, $150MM contract Springer signed with the Jays in January 2021 is now up, and the veteran will become a free agent for the second time in his career.\u00a0 Whether or not Springer signs anywhere or opt for retirement remains to be seen, as Springer told Sportsnet\u2019s Shi Davidi<\/a> on Friday that he has yet to decide about his future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll go into the offseason and I\u2019ll see what happens\u2026.I\u2019ll sit down with my wife at the end of this year and we\u2019ll discuss whatever\u2019s going to happen.\u00a0 But I love my family and if that requires me to be with them, I\u2019ll be with them,\u201d Springer said.<\/p>\n

Springer is just over a week removed from his 37th birthday, and he is wrapping up a season that saw him hit .249\/.321\/.405 with 15 home runs over 517 plate appearances.\u00a0 He missed a couple of weeks in April due to a fracture in his left big toe, adding to a list of nagging lower-body issues in recent years that made Springer basically a full-time DH in 2026.\u00a0 That injury and another toe fracture that didn\u2019t require another IL stint surely contributed to Springer\u2019s slow start, plus Davidi also alluded to Springer playing through a nagging shoulder issue.<\/p>\n

Still, Springer very well from mid-June through the end of August before his bat cooled off in September.\u00a0 He downplayed his physical status as any excuse for his play or as a factor in his future, saying \u201cif my mind can say it, then my body can do it.\u00a0 My body can do whatever I tell it to do, hopefully.\u00a0 But I\u2019ll cross that road once I get to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While a 105 wRC+ is respectable for a player of Springer\u2019s age, it is far below the 166 wRC+ and .309\/.399\/.560 slash line Springer delivered in 2025, as his return to All-Star form was one of the chief reasons why the Blue Jays won the AL pennant.\u00a0 Indeed, Springer delivered the key hit that sent the Jays to the World Series, as his three-run homer in the seventh inning of Game 7 of the ALCS put Toronto ahead 4-3 in what ended up as the final score.<\/p>\n

After subpar years in both 2023 and 2024, Springer\u2019s career seemed to be winding down before his big rebound in 2025.\u00a0 His production this season may indicate that 2025 was something of an outlier, yet it would appear as enough Springer still has enough gas left in the tank to be a productive hitter.<\/p>\n

While he\u2019ll surely draw interest in free agency, Springer\u2019s market will be limited as a 37-year-old who is essentially a DH-only player at this stage of his career.\u00a0 With 13 seasons played, four All-Star nods, almost $200MM in career earnings, and a World Series ring (and a World Series MVP trophy) with the 2017 Astros on his resume, this may be enough for Springer to call it a career and spend more time with his wife and three young sons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After singling in the third inning and advancing to second base on a JJ Bleday fielding error, George…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":673932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2290],"tags":[5,311],"class_list":["post-815889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-baseball","tag-baseball","tag-george-springer"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117345551915452082","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/673932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}