Josh “JR” Reese

No he is not but, although you would be safe in believing the Astros believe he could be a 200 million dollar player. Springer one of if not the best prospect in the Astros system at 24 years old has spent 2 plus seasons in the minor leagues. Earlier last week a report came out that last September during Springer’s historic chase for 40 homerruns and 40 stolen bases he turned down a contract from the Astros valued at 7 years for 23 million dollars.

A new contract for a minor league player yet to take one single official major league AB is unheard of. Springer is considered an elite prospect and yet the Astros came to him with a deal to lock him up before he has the power to demand more.

The conspiracy theorist inside all of us believe that had Springer signed the deal September, he would be an opening day starter. Instead Springer was reassigned to minor league camp and will open the season in with the RedHawks (Astros AAA).

Why are the Astros keeping Springer on the farm when he can help now… Well the Springer that nearly hit 40-40 last year of course could help but adding Springer to the Astros right now would still not make them a top 3 team in the now tougher AL West. Keeping Springer on the farm can push his service time back longer and keep the Astros from paying Springer what we all hope he one day deserves for as long as humanly possible.

One of the problems with pushing Springer back is that one day when you have to pay Springer that potential 200 million, you will have a ton of other prospects to pay as well. Starting pitchers Jarred Cosart and Brett Oberholtzer both will need to be paid before Springer. Are you confident that the Astros will pay everyone that needs to be paid? Me, neither the cold hard truth is most of these guys will be paid but most will get paid by someone else.

Follow JR on twitter —–> @Dyslexicsports