Houston Astros' first-round pick George Springer, the center fielder out of UCONN, recently signed his first major league deal minutes before last Sunday's deadline.
↵Springer, the 11th overall pick, agreed to a contract worth $2.525 million and will begin his professional career in Florida's Gulf Coast League. After Springer's stellar junior season with the Huskies (.343, 21 homers, 77 RBIs, 31 steals), Astros fans are excited about his potential to become a star.
↵↵↵"Our plan is to get him to Florida and let him get his baseball legs under him a little bit," said Assistant General Manager Bobby Heck. "Once we're comfortable there we'll get him to Tri-City and let him play the remainder of the season out there."
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Springer spent Friday afternoon conducting his inaugural press conference and taking batting practice at Minute Maid Park. What current player does he try to emulate?
↵↵↵"I like to model my style of play after a guy that's actually playing right field now for the Los Angeles Angels, Torii Hunter. He has no regard for his body. He doesn't get cheated in the box and he'll put it all on the line. That's exactly how I am."
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Springer was very composed when dealing with the media yesterday, and his future with the Astros looks very bright. While player development is absolutely crucial right now for the Astros' farm system, I have plenty of confidence in George Springer.
↵Heck, the Astros could probably use him right now at the major league level, but that's a different story...