As Aledmys Diaz’s lazy fly ball floated through the damp San Diego air only to find the glove of Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Manny Margot, the Astros 2020 season came to a close. George Springer was standing to the right of the on deck next to Petco Park’s third base dugout as Pete Fairbanks delivered a 90 MPH slider to Diaz. As soon as the ball went in the air Springer walked slowly towards the rest of his teammates. His next at bat as an Astro will likely never come.
Springer, 31, is now a free agent. He spent the last eight months avoiding any and all questions about his future, declining to say he even wanted to return to the team that drafted him nine year ago, and that didn’t change in the wake of Saturday’s loss.
“It is a little early,” Springer said. “Obviously, this season for us just ended, so haven’t put much thought into that besides understanding who’s in our locker room now, and I’ll go from there.”
The Astros have lost free agents over the last couple of winters. That’s what happens with good teams, but Marwin Gonzalez was a utility guy. Dallas Keuchel and Charlie, beloved as they were, seemed to fade in their final season with the Astros, and Gerrit Cole was just a hired gun. The loss of Springer will hit different. His arrival in April, 2014 ushered in a golden era of Astros baseball.
He was the first of the highly touted prospects to burst through the Minute Maid Park doors leading the way for countless others. It was Springer who graced a famous Sports Illustrated cover touting the Astros as the 2017 World Series champions three years before it actually happened, and it was Springer who was a catalyst of the Astros 2015 club that ended a decade of futility with a surprise playoff run.
Springer was the founder of Club Astro, which lit up Minute Maid Park’s home clubhouse with strobe lights after wins, and he then busted out a smoke machine to signify series victories. He was the spark inside that clubhouse and at the top of the batting order. His voice was always the loudest, and when the Astros won their biggest series, it was Springer who took home the MVP trophy at Dodger Stadium.
“He’s been my teammate ever since I got to the big leagues,” Carlos Correa said. He’s been a great leader, and he’s been a great role model. He’s been great for his team.”
Before Springer’s arrival the Astros had never qualified for five postseasons in six years. They had never advanced to four straight League Championship Series, or even won a World Series, but because of him those boxes have now been checked.
The Astros will find someone to stick in the leadoff spot and devise a plan for who will man center field, but they won’t be able to replace George Springer’s production or his energy and the team will be worse off for it.
Let’s face it, when the Astros 2020 season ended Saturday night a golden era of Houston Astros baseball ended with it.