Baseball is full of long days and short years, which is how it can simultaneously feel like George Springer’s been with the Toronto Blue Jays forever and that the six seasons in his then-club-record $150-million free-agent contract have flown by.So much has happened since he signed that fateful agreement Jan. 23, 2021, while the federal government’s pandemic restrictions that locked the club out of its home for a season-and-a-half were still in place.Despite 91 wins, the Blue Jays missed the playoffs by one measly game in that vagabond three-home-sites ’21 season, before jarring wild-card exits followed in each of the next two years.As a three-stage renovation completely transformed the Rogers Centre, a train-wreck 2024 was chased by the exhilarating run to — and subsequent heartbreak of — the 2025 World Series, the slugger delivering a franchise-pantheon Game 7 ALCS homer along the way.He earned an all-star selection and a Silver Slugger, poured into his teammates, set a standard in the clubhouse, became a symbol of the club’s re-emergence as a legitimate player in the free-agent market and is so ingrained within the organization’s fabric that his seven preceding seasons with the Houston Astros feel more like fever dream than reality.Yet suddenly, the end is nigh, with three games versus the visiting Cincinnati Reds beginning Friday night (7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, Sportsnet, Sportsnet+) all that remains of those six years, and perhaps in his career, too.“It’s emotional to think about it,” Springer said Wednesday in a quiet corner of the visitors’ clubhouse at Camden Yards, after an Orioles doubleheader sweep eliminated the Blue Jays from the wild-card chase. “Very, very grateful to our fans, this team, this organization. Obviously this is not the way that we all wanted it to end. But if it is, I’m going to do my best to embrace being back home for one last time and making sure that I do anything I can to reciprocate to the fans.”Springer coy on plans for the futureSpringer is coy about the future beyond that, although some close to him expect that he will retire once all is said and done. At 37, having willed his way through far more ailments than he will acknowledge, having won one World Series, tainted as it may be by the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, and come within inches of another, with 308 homers and a career OPS of .823 over 13 seasons, his resume is substantial.His final season — .251/.323/.407 with 15 homers and 54 RBIs — would surely look different if a foul tip hadn’t fractured his left big toe May 11 and forced him to play compromised for weeks once he returned.In 58 games since the all-star break, though, he’s posted an .800 OPS with six homers and 32 RBIs, demonstrating that even through subsequent shoulder issues, he can still do damage. Combined with his veteran leadership and experience, there is sure to be a market for him during the off-season, if he wants to continue playing.Does he?“I don’t know,” he replied. “I love this organization. I loved being a Blue Jay. I’ve loved every single bit of being here. I haven’t really gotten that far yet. I’ve kind of taken every day with these guys in stride.”Related:‘What I said is the way I feel’: Blue Jays’ Guerrero Jr. addresses contract commentsBlue Jays eliminated from playoff contention with loss to OriolesAs he usually does, Springer shrugged off the toll his aggressive style has taken on him physically and insisted that won’t tip the scales in his decision-making.“If my mind can say it, then my body can do it – my body can do whatever I tell it to do, hopefully,” he said. “But I’ll cross that road once I get to it. We’ve still got to get through these next three and then we’ll go into the off-season and I’ll see what happens.”More of a factor will be the needs of his family as Springer and wife Charlise have three sons aged five, three and three-months-old. The two older boys have been clubhouse staples this season, often walking around with either a bat or a glove in hand, following their dad through each stage of his pre-game. During a recent homestand, they each took a round of batting practice on the field once the Blue Jays were done and ran the bases after.“It’s hard to be away from them and to miss things,” said Springer. “I want to be able to give them hugs and say, I love you in person. It’s been a long year for me off the field. But those are my kids and I love them. I’ll sit down with my wife at the end of this year and we’ll discuss whatever’s going to happen. But I love my family and if that requires me to be with them, I’ll be with them.”Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer. Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS.Springer forever beloved in Blue Jays clubhouseIn some ways that would be a natural transition, given the way Springer’s grown into a father-figure type during his time with the Blue Jays.During one down stretch in May, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. pointed out that “George is my advice guy,” and praised Springer for telling him to “go out there and be yourself, laughing, joking” because “sometimes you put too much pressure and then sometimes you change your body language, so he always tells us to go out there and have fun.”Myles Straw, who also played with Springer in Houston, recently praised the way he brought calmness and energy through games of increasing leverage, saying, “I’ve seen George do it for years now … Even in the playoffs, it’s like Game 1 of the season for George.”Manager John Schneider, who’s praised Springer in so many ways over the years, pointed out last month how important his guidance was through this summer’s trade deadline, when the Blue Jays traded away Kevin Gausman, Daulton Varsho and Jeff Hoffman but still crawled back into contention.“That’s part of the reason we signed him when we did, he’s remarkably aware of how things can change and he doesn’t panic,” said Schneider. “That rubs off on everyone and his will to say like, ‘Hey, I’m going to do whatever it takes to win today,’ has rubbed off on some guys. He’s been great. He’s still having fun and he’s still affecting people around him.”During his 3.5 seasons with the Blue Jays, Varsho grew especially close to Springer, who’d regularly walk through the clubhouse calling, “Daulton,” when he couldn’t find the centre-fielder.“I’m going to cherish every moment that we’ve had together because he’s taught me a lot about myself, just what it means to be a leader and how to do it in the right way,” Varsho said Aug. 1. “He’s a lead-by-example guy and he’ll use his voice every once in a while when he needs to. It’s a pretty spectacular career he’s had. Obviously I keep talking to him, I want him to keep playing, but obviously for him it’s his choice and his family’s choice. But he’s had a hell of a career and it’s always been enjoyable for me to play alongside him.”All combined, it’s a sizable legacy Springer has carved out with the Blue Jays, who signed him to push the franchise to the next level and saw him do precisely that. At the time of his 2021 signing, president and CEO Mark Shapiro said, “there’s no limit to what this market can be, it’s a behemoth and we’re going to continue to get better and continue to add the players and keep the players that we have necessary to be a championship team year-in, year-out.”In that way, the Blue Jays achieved what they envisioned — save for the championship — when they invested in Springer six years ago.Asked if he’s accomplished all he wanted with Toronto, minus the title, Springer replied, “I don’t know. I hope so.”“I’d hope that over the last six years, I’ve been able to show the fans and this organization that I love them and I’ll play as hard as I can every single day with whatever I’ve got,” he continued. “At the end of the day, the goal was to win the World Series and we came an eyelash shy. But to see all the progress that we made as organization and a team, just to be standing on that field in Game 7 was a dream come true for me. So yeah, I’d love to be the last team standing, but this has been a hell of a six years.”One series left. Time sure does fly.