The saga has ended – Jason Heyward has spurned the advances of the big spending Washington Nationals and his former team, the St Louis Cardinals, to sign with the Chicago Cubs. Terms haven’t been immediately disclosed, though the contract will likely be the richest in franchise history (surpassing the $155 million deal Jon Lester got last winter), and could approach $200 million.
Cubs get heyward
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 11, 2015
(update: eight years, $184 million with *two* opt-out clauses)
Jayson Heyard is 8 years, $184M with two opt-outs.
— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) December 11, 2015
The 26-year old Heyward had a fine year with the Cardinals in 2015, hitting .293/.359/.439 with 13 homers and 23 stolen bases (at an 88% clip, mind you). He was also a phenom once again on defense, logging +24 defensive runs saved and a 22.6 UZR while winning his third NL Gold Glove in four seasons. The only outfielder to surpass Heyward in both categories in all of baseball last season was Kevin Kiermaier of the Rays (though new Braves outfielder Ender Inciarte passed Heyward in DRS, but not UZR).
If there’s a knock on Heyward, it’s that he doesn’t hit enough. In 835 career games, he has just 97 homers, 86 steals, and a .268/.353/.431 slash line. But even that criticism doesn’t seem too well-founded – his one below average offensive year was 2011, when Heyward struggled with a shoulder injury for nearly the entire season. Since 2012, Heyward is hitting .273/.349/.433, giving him a .347 wOBA an 118 wRC+ that compare favorably to Alex Gordon, Christian Yelich, Carlos Gomez, Curtis Granderson, and Adam Jones…and no one is giving them grief about not hitting enough. Throw in Heyward’s fantastic defense and baserunning skills, and you have all the makings of a well-rounded outfielder just entering his prime seasons.
Where will Heyward play in the Cubs outfield? It’s still unknown. At present, he’d likely slot into center field, but the Cubs could end up trading from their outfield depth to bolster their rotation and sign a center fielder to play alongside Heyward in right.
#Cubs have agreed to terms with Jason Heyward, multiple sources say, and are not done yet. They are trying to trade for a starting pitcher.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 11, 2015
#Cubs have had trade dialogue with #Padres (Tyson Ross) and #Indians (Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar), sources say.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 11, 2015
Buckle up, folks – the stove is getting hot.
