Blue Jays Sign George Springer

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Last night, George Springer was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays, after months of speculation and flurting with the New York Mets, another team that has been busy this offseason and has a hole in Center Field. The Blue Jays have signed Springer, who is the third best Center Fielder in baseball, and a near top 20 player in baseball. Springer finished in 2020 with a strong .540 Slugging Percentage and .899 OPS (On Base Plus Slugging). Springer has hit 14 RBIs, and finished with 32 RBIs with the Astros where he has played his entire career so far, which has been filled with success in the 2017 World Series and controversy revolving around the Astros cheating scandal. Netherless, Springer is still a great player and this is a great signing by the Blue Jays.

What This Means For The Blue Jays

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The Toronto Blue Jays are a very good team that has a lot of young talent and are rising. The Blue Jays have a strong lineup and a solid rotation. The Blue Jays bullpen still is shaky, despite their recent signing of closer Kirby Yates, who was the best closer in baseball in 2018 and more so in 2019. The Blue Jays have talent that is ready to produce and they will show themselves this offseason.

Overall, the Blue Jays are another great team that is ready to contend in their division with the Yankees and Rays in the AL East. They aren't the favorites in the division, though they are underdogs and have the potential to dominate. In 2020, the Blue Jays did show themselves by making the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The Blue Jays will come back in 2021 and will try to show what they can do and who they are as a club.

What This Means For The Mets

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The New York Mets are a team that hasn't made the playoffs for four years but they are going through a time of change, where there is hope. This is mainly due to their new owner, Steve Cohen, who is a billionare who has more then 14 Billion Dollars, the richest owner in baseball by far. The Mets were after George Sprigner for months and were the frontrunner to sign him. They failed to do so, which indeed is a loss for the club which hasn't been seen much this offseason. The Mets still are a strong team that has many stars including offseason acquisition star shortstop Francisco Lindor, Starting Pitcher Jacob deGrom, and First Basemen Pete Alonso, and others.

The Mets will be fine. They are a great team that will produce in 2021. The Mets still have places where they need to improve, especially in their pitching, in the rotation and bullpen. The Mets finally have an owner who is willing spend to make the club the best they can be. The Mets will likely continue to target more players this offseason including Trevor Bauer, Brad Hand, and others.

What This Means For The Rest Of Baseball

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This trade will have a huge effect on the rest of baseball, including many teams and players all around the game.

First, the AL East (Yankees and Rays). The division is wide open and is anyone's game. The Blue Jays are challenging the Rays and especially the Yankees and will give the latter a run for its money this season. The Yankees still have the edge in the division because they are proven and overall are still a better team as their lineup, bullpen and rotation is still to the Jays. However, the division is not set and the Blue Jays have a huge chance to take over and dominate this season.

Next, the rest of the baseball. This move by the Blue Jays will have a large effect on many more teams and clubs this offseason. The Astros for one, lost Springer who was one of their best players and Michael Brantley might be next to go. Reports have showed that thet Blue Jays are in persuit of Brantley as well, and others too. Many clubs will now have to re-evaluate including the Mets and Astros, to see what they need to do going forward to succeed in 2021. Spring Training is less then a month away, and many key Free Agents are still available including Trevor Bauer and JT Realmuto, among others too.

The George Springer signing was a huge deal and it will be interesting to see how this effects the game of baseball from the Blue Jays to the Mets to the rest of the game. For more, check out other articles on my website and make sure to check out other pages on my website and my Instagram account, @marksportsmlb