The Toronto Blue Jays are looking more like sellers by the day, and one proposed trade would send George Springer right into rival territory.
Blue Jays insider Mitch Bannon floated a deal sending Springer to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for left-handed pitching prospect Jojo Ingrassia.
Toronto sits at 46-54, last in the American League East, a stunning reversal from a team that went to extra innings in Game 7 of the World Series just a year ago.
MLB insider Bob Nightengale summed up the whiplash directly.
"Who would have imagined that the Toronto Blue Jays would be two outs away from the World Series one year, and sitting in last place in the AL East the next?" Nightengale wrote. "They have gone from potential buyers to likely sellers at the trade deadline."
Springer is hitting .224 with 10 home runs across 69 games this season, numbers well below his usual production in the final year of his six-year, $150 million deal.
Ingrassia, Boston's 30th-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is 2-1 with a 3.51 ERA across 12 High-A appearances, a 14th-round pick from 2023 who's still years away from the majors.
Why Bannon sees this as fair value for both sides
"A designated hitter with an OPS around .700 won't fetch much on the trade market," Bannon wrote, "but with Springer's postseason experience and power potential, the Jays should be able to get back a real prospect for the 36-year-old."
Bannon compared this potential return directly to the RJ Schreck return Toronto got two years ago in the Justin Turner trade, a similarly modest mid-minors prospect package.
There's a real personal wrinkle here too. Springer holds 10-and-5 rights, meaning he can veto any trade, but he grew up just a two-hour drive from Fenway Park.
Whether he'd actually accept a deal to Boston remains unclear, though a former World Series MVP nearing the end of his career might welcome one more shot at a title somewhere else.
It's a bit like a longtime employee getting a job offer close to home just as their current company starts cleaning house.
Would Springer actually approve a trade to a division rival, or does his connection to Toronto's championship run make him reluctant to leave regardless of where the offer comes from?
Would you want to see George Springer traded to the Red Sox at the deadline?
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