Los Angeles Angels: Pass or pursue on 5 marquee free agents

George Springer

George Springer certainly has a case for being the most underrated player in all of baseball. He is not the type of player who makes headlines routinely or is featured on ESPN, but he can downright play the game of baseball at a high level. In the beginning of his career, Springer dealt with a plethora of injuries and experts were unsure if he would ever reach his full potential as a big leaguer. He has since silenced all the doubters.

Springer, 31, posted a 146 wRC+ in 2020 across 51 games, slugging 14 homers. In 2019, Springer had a ridiculous year. He played in just 122 games, but slugged 39 home runs and accumulated 6.5 WAR. It appears Springer could be a late bloomer and given his existing level of athleticism, he could be in for a longer career.

He is already 31 years of age, but his bat plays at any age. Springer has been a positive defender in the outfield every season of his career except 2018 in terms of defensive runs saved (DRS), posting 15 DRS combined the past two seasons.

It’s a shame the Angels don’t exactly need him in the outfield given that the Angels are set to build around Mike Trout and Jo Adell, but Springer should find a good home at a good price.

Verdict: Pass (five years, $115 million)