George Springer should be a free agent right now. He should be taking calls from interested teams right now, weighing offers, dreaming about possibilities.
If Springer had been a free agent this fall, then presumably, the Houston Astros would have had to work aggressively to keep one of their best players and would have had to bid against others to keep Springer for the 2020 season. If Springer were a free agent -- as he should be -- he would be near the top of the board in Keith Law's free-agent rankings, behind Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon, in all likelihood, and ahead of many, many dozens of others.
But he isn't because in keeping with what has been standard operating procedure for most teams, the Astros manipulated Springer's service time by tethering him to the minor leagues for a few extra days. If Springer had started the 2014 season with Houston on Opening Day, as he deserved, he would have been eligible for free agency this fall.
There's no getting around this truth: His major league career started with that act of bad faith by his employers, for the sake of their financial interest.
He isn't alone, of course. This is what the Chicago Cubs did with Kris Bryant, and it's how the Toronto Blue Jays handled Vladimir Guerrero Jr. last spring, etc., etc.
A comparable decision for a player might be to feign an injury or illness rather than face a tough team in order to protect statistics or for him to sit out the next-to-last year before free agency under the guise of a minor ailment, with the player making a business decision at the direct financial expense of his employer.
The Astros, a company probably worth somewhere in the range of $1.5 billion to $2 billion, have saved themselves a little money to date by delaying Springer's debut. But the greatest advantage gleaned by the Astros is playing out right now. Because of that decision back in 2014, the Astros have prevented Springer from getting into the free-agent market. If he had been handled then according to what he had earned with his skills and his work, he'd be in line to get a deal worth well beyond $100 million right now -- but instead he'll have to wait, which comes with risk.
For his part, Springer -- a first-round pick by the Astros in 2011, 11th overall -- has been a model employee. In 2013, he thrived all the way through Triple-A. In 62 games for Oklahoma City, Springer batted .311 with an OPS of 1.050, clubbed 18 homers and swiped 22 bases. He followed that with a solid spring training performance in 2014, when he generated a .413 on-base percentage. He did everything expected of him to earn a promotion to the big leagues.
But he didn't start the season with the Astros. Rather, Houston played the 2014 season opener with journeyman L.J. Hoes in right field. Springer returned to Triple-A, posting a 1.106 OPS in 14 games for the Red Hawks -- until just enough days had passed that he would no longer be eligible for free agency in 2020. On April 16, 2014, Springer made his MLB debut.
Springer has been a professional throughout his relationship with the Astros. Splitting time between right and center field, he has been a three-time All-Star, and he helped the Astros reach the postseason in four of the past five seasons. He has scored 426 runs the past four seasons, moving manager AJ Hinch to observe that the Astros' lineup tends to perform as Springer does, which is why Hinch writes Springer into the leadoff spot for what has been baseball's best and most consistent offense.
Since Springer's rookie season in 2014, only four outfielders have generated more wins above replacement (WAR): Mike Trout, who pulled a $430 million contract last spring; Mookie Betts, who will soon win the highest arbitration decision ever before he reaches free agency next fall; Christian Yelich, the 2018 NL MVP; and Bryce Harper, who landed a $330 million deal in free agency last winter. The outfielder just behind Springer in fWAR got the biggest baseball contract ever before Harper's and Trout's surpassed his:
Outfield FanGraphs WAR leaders since 2014:
Trout 52.5
Betts 37.2
Yelich 31.8
Harper 26.6
Springer 24.6
Giancarlo Stanton 24.5
Springer has played in the World Series twice, and in those 14 games, he has gone 19-for-56 at the plate with seven doubles, seven home runs, 14 runs, 12 walks and 13 strikeouts. His slash line in World Series play is .339/.456/1.214. It's a small sample of games, yes, but it's in the most pressurized competition, against the elite pitching staffs of the 2017 Dodgers and 2019 Nationals. Springer's statistical peers in World Series play are three guys you might have heard of: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Reggie Jackson.
As Sarah Langs of MLB.com notes, Springer's chase rate in the postseason -- swinging outside the strike zone -- is almost identical to what it has been in the regular season: 22% in the playoffs and World Series and 22.6% in the regular season. "That is pretty telling," she wrote. "When the pressure is on, he isn't chasing more. He's taking the same approach which we have seen work so well for him in the regular season."
Springer has been a first-class representative of the Astros organization, including the work he does inspiring kids to work through the kind of speech impediment he grew up with.
He has earned the payday of a long-term deal, but he'll have to wait, apparently. As it stands, Springer will go through arbitration one more time before finally reaching the free-agent market at age 31, rather than 30, at a time when players 31 and older don't fare as well in free agency as they did in the past. And of course, all of the risk created by the Astros' disingenuous handling of his promotion is borne by Springer: If Houston doesn't sign him to a long-term deal and he gets hurt before reaching the market, it'll cost him millions.
George Springer deserves better. All players in this situation deserve better. Just because teams can exploit their labor through a loophole doesn't mean it's right.