Blue Jays $150 Million Aging Superstar Could Revive His Career With Royals
2024 has been an incredibly encouraging season for the Kansas City Royals, but it's also revealed some flaws.
With an 85-74 record, the Royals' magic number to clinch a playoff spot is down to just one with three days left in the regular season. After losing 106 games in 2023, the one-year turnaround for this Kansas City team, which hasn't made it to October since 2015, has been phenomenal.
However, the Royals lack depth in their lineup, as evidenced by the two seven-game losing streaks they suffered in September after the loss of first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. If they want to become true World Series contenders in 2025, they need to find some reliable veteran bats to fortify the offense.
One such target is the Toronto Blue Jays' George Springer, who is owed $45 million on the six-year contract he signed before the 2021 season. Zachary Pressnell of FanSided predicted the Blue Jays would find a way to dump Springer this winter due to their impending payroll crunch.
"Toronto is going to be doing a ton of spending in the next few months," Pressnell said. "They need to extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr., first and foremost. That's going to be very expensive, making him the highest-paid player on the team by a wide margin. And then, Toronto is expected to be aggressive in free agency, targeting players like Juan Soto or Corbin Burnes who aren't going to come cheap."
"Every dollar matters this offseason. If the Blue Jays can dump Springer to a worse team and get off of half of his contract, they would be much better off."
Hearing that Springer could be had for half the money, or potentially even less, should perk up the Royals' ears if it is indeed a possibility. Even in the worst season of his career, Springer has 19 home runs, two more than any current Royals outfielder.
Since the Royals' last postseason appearance in 2015, all Springer has done is become the best playoff hitter of the past decade. He has 74 playoff hits, 19 home runs, an .875 OPS and a World Series MVP award to his name since his playoff debut.
If the Royals want to become a fixture of playoff baseball over the next few seasons, they should be looking to add veterans with Springer's October track record. As long as the cost is within reason, the aging superstar is more than worth the risk in a potential trade this winter.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org