Who is this? Is this good?
George Springer is a power hitting CF who's been with the Astros his whole career. It's a big deal and not without risk but the Jays needed to upgrade their outfield defense, Springer does that, and he's a very good hitter.
I think it's definitely a positive move. It gives the Jays a lot of options in terms of moving one of their OF to DH or including them in a trade for pitching and all it costs is money. The Jays aren't close to the Tax so it doesn't really preclude them from making other moves and if they need to eat some of the back half...eh, they can afford it.
Any chance it opens the door for other big names to be interested in Toronto again?
There is rumbling the Jays are talking to Michael Brantley. He's another outfielder. But it would give them some flexibility on the trade market. Whether you use Gurriel to acquire a top end pitcher or trade Grichuk and move Hernandez to more of a DH role it would be a good addition. He's another Astros player and has a lot of injury baggage but the guy has a phenomenal eye and just doesn't miss the ball very often.
I mean just in a hypothetical. You take Gurriel + a big package of prospects and talk to the Cubs about Kris Bryant and Kyle Hendriks. That would take you out of Bauer most likely but then maybe bring Taijuan Walker back and go with a roster of
LF Brantley
2B Biggio
SS Bichette
CF Springer
RF Hernandez
1B Guerrero Jr
3B Bryant
C Jansen
DH Tellez
Bench: Kirk, Grichuk, Espinal,
Rotation: Hendriks - Ryu - Pearson - Walker - Ray
Bullpen: Yates - Romano - Dolis - Merryweather - Cole - Kay - Stripling - Borucki
It's a bit of dream thinking but could be fun.