11:54pm: Heyman tweets that the Nationals are believed to have offered about or exactly $200MM to Heyward.
11:52am: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Cardinals are “out” on Heyward.
11:50am:Â Jason Heyward has made a decision on which team he’ll sign with, a source tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). Goold writes that while the Cardinals were aggressive, it doesn’t sound like Heyward chose them. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that the Nationals aren’t optimistic about a deal, either. The Cubs are “very much in play,” says Goold, though no report has indicated that Chicago has agreed to terms with Heyward just yet.
Heyward was said recently to be nearing a decision, with the Cubs, Cardinals and Nationals as finalists. The Angels were, at one point, said to be a finalist also, and the Giants have been linked to him, though they reportedly never made a formal offer.
So it’s Cubs or Angels or Mystery Team?
Cubs win?
Mystery Team strikes again. Between this and Greinke, they’re signing all the big names!
It is going to be amazing that the money Heyward is going to get
While his potential is great, the actual results are not.
I do wonder what the Orioles have in mind for RF or even LF for that matter.
Heyward is off the board and I doubt they are the mystery team
The word on the street is that Alex Gordon does not want to play for an East Coast team, now as to why that is if true is beyond me.
Some O’s types don’t want Parra to come back.
The O’s don’t want to trade Gausman to the Rockies for CarGo
They don’t want to seem to do anything except play footsie with Boras and Davis.
That is not going to help the Oriole team as a whole
SMH
It’s the Braves.
-C
With what money and why?
With all the money and because he’s awesome, obviously.
-C
Go Cubs Go!
Its gotta be the Cubs. If the cost is actually what it is believed to be, I pray it wasn’t the Angels.
If the Yankees swooped in and proved mlbtr’s prediction right, I’d laugh my ass off.
Except MLBTR’s prediction was the offer made by the Nats and Heyward felt that was too low.
Wouldn’t it be cool if the surprise team was from the Japanese league? Heyward might actually be able to put up some nice offensive numbers in that league.
Well if anyone’s gonna overpay, I love that it’s the Cubs that are just sending their payroll into the garbage.
Didn’t work for the Red Sox lately, didn’t work for the Dodgers. Won’t work for the Cubs, especially with all the regression the kids who peaked too early are going to endure.
Good times, I’d rather lose him to the Cubs than anyone else, especially if he’s gonna tie up 25m+ for the next decade.
Yep, this is Alfonso Soriano 2.0. I can’t wait.
Soriano sucked at defense though and struck out like crazy. I know the Cubs are overpaying, but they are going to get much needed defense, and patience at the plate.
I didn’t mean they were the same player, but Soriano was a much better offensive player and could play the infield in a pinch. Not very well, but passable. I meant that they will be the exact same type of payroll burden.
Soriano was 31 before he ever suited up for the Cubs. Hendry bit on the career year with the Nats.
Which “kids” are you talking about? Schwarber, Soler, and Baez haven’t even really played a full season yet, and Bryant is only going to get way better once he cuts back on the whiffs. Russell has not even scraped the surface of how good he is going to be. Who does that leave? Rizzo is a proven product at this point. I know its tough to swallow, but the Cubbies are going to be at the top of the division for quite some time.
Cubs are hardly either of those two teams. They’re overwhelming built of home-grown talent, and have added the few extra pieces they needed via free agency- exactly how it should be.
If it is the Cubs then they are going for the attributes that they see in Heyward. He bats left handed, plays gold glove defense and is patient at the plate. The glove is a huge part of why they want him since he will be flanked by Schwarber and Soler who are not great gloves. Having Zobrist and Heyward at the top of the line up should allow for a lot of at bats by Bryant and Rizzo with men on base.
Yep, Bryant can wind up with 140 RBI if he bats cleanup. Zobrist, Heyward, and Rizzo who all take a lot of walks.
I would rather the Angels spend $200MM on Cespedes and Murphy and knock out two positions.
Agreed. We still have a lot of holes to fill. Once we signed Hamilton, we bargain-binned for Blanton, Madson, Burnett, and Hanson because we were right up against the luxury tax. It’ll be the same scenario again.
I’d rather the Angels be well rounded. We already have Trout.
Payroll muscle
Cubs gonna regret this late in the contract, but they are gonna flat rock next year. Not anything even remotely like a weakness (barring lots of injuries). 100 wins? 105?
Possibly 3rd place in the NL central again? The Cardinals may regress but what have the Pirates done to regress?
It depends a lot on if Arietta is for real or not, or if it was just a flash in the pan Steve Stone type season. I actually think Lester underperformed last year so there is hope there. If Lackey looks anywhere near as good as he did last year then the rest of baseball is in trouble. Our lineup is scary good right now even before any possible addition of Heyward. If they didn’t play in the toughest division in baseball I would say 120 wins, but since they are in the central, you are probably spot on.
Arrieta is for real. Cubs may fall back next year due any type of factor (injury, performance, luck, etc.), but I like their depth to contend for the rest of the decade.
I agree with the question of whether or not Arietta is for real. When he repeats his delivery, he is awesome, but then he has periods where he does not and struggles. Time will tell. You are most likely too optimistic on Lester and Lackey.
Lester is not an ace and at this point is more of a 2-3 starter. He needs to be able to throw to first, as well. Lester was an overpay and has only one season with an era below 3. Lackey is really a strong 2-3 at this point. Don’t get me wrong..I love his bulldog mentality and he will be a fan favorite, but at 37, I don’t see a repeat of last season.
The Cubbies offense will be helped by Heyward, who is a hard out. Rizzo is proven. The other guys have a lot of talent and some will produce and some will regress. You speak as if the team has done something special already? They had a great season, beat a flawed Cardinal team that suffered key pitiching injuries, were helped by wrigley being a hitters park, and were shut down by the Mets. I want to clarify that the Central is a brutal division, with 3 teams capable of making the playoffs. I also want to say that every year at this time, the media and fans make a big deal about offseason winners and in about 10 months, you will see fans and media claiming that rarely do offseason winners become postseason winners. I am not saying it cannot happen, but remember that once you get to the postseason, anything can happen for any reason, no matter who has more talent or potential on paper.
To be fair there wont be much regret if its 10 years or less. Hes still young. If you lose out on 1 year of a 10 year deal thats a good deal to make.
Cubs land Heyward, put him in right. They execute a deal they’ve been discussing with the Braves for Inciarte for CF in exchange for Soelr or Baez. Cubs get huge defensive upgrade in CF and RF to compensate for the gap they get when Schwarber is in LF.
Braves don’t do that for Baez, not close (not without a good prospect involved). They might for Soler though.
I’d prefer Soler in the deal, or something expanded to land both.
I really don’t like Inciarte. Soler is the better player IMO.
Most likely Heyward will play for the Nationals. The good thing is that the Cardinals will not have to spend so much in keeping Heyward and the Cards now can move forward looking for an outfielder. There are a lot of options we can sign or trade to have an outfielder.The Cardinals are okay.
They have no need to acquire a new OF anyway they have a lot of outfielders on the roster as it is
I watched Heyward for years as a Brave fan. He cant hit well, he only started hitting for the cards half way through the season, terrible contract
This is starting to feel like one of those shows where they say “and the winner is…” then there’s a commercial break, then when they return they talk to the contestants for another 10 minutes and finally they reveal who won.
Stl radio stations are saying it’s Heyward to the Cubs
Why not? Every player can probably feel “it’s gonna happen”. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?.
Cubs are fools……this guy is not a 20m player…….13-60? teams are really stupid and are getting addicted to the new fake metrics that make a player seem better than he is.
New fake metrics!
I know, man. It’s like they don’t realize that we’re all just living in the Matrix . . .
His youth is an investment, but the money is too steep for anyone that he hasn’t produced with that caliber at the plate. It’s a gamble, but the team taking it on is probably the Marlins with Stanton to join him.
This is one of the most disgusting overpays of the year. Heyward is an EXCELLENT player no doubt, but for that type of money, you are better off grabbing a david price. Albeit at a higher AAV but the point remains. Id rather sign alex gordon to a 4-5 year deal.
cardinals got better without ol stank eye pujols, and they’re better now without heyward
Heyward’s logic is valid, but not difinitive. If he expects there won’t be changes to the Cubs core I believe he is probably mistaken. History says otherwise. And, the Cardinals will replace the veterans. Who’s to say they won’t be just as good or better?
Personally, I was happy the Cardinals weren’t successful in their pursuit of Heyward. Of course, others thought I was crazy when I said the same about Pujols. These contracts limit teams’ options. In short, they just aren’t worth it. Just consider some of the long term, $20 million a year contracts from recent years.
Ryan Howard, Cliff Lee, Josh Hamilton, Carl Crawford, Barry Zito, Matt Kemp, Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Vernon Wells, Johan Santana and lest we forget…..Alfonso Soriano. These contracts are/were disasters for the teams. Those with some value, but not comensurate with the salaries include Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, Justin Verlander, Robinson Cano, Prince Fielder, CC Sabathia and A-Rod.
I might have missed a couple, but only Clayton Kershaw, Miguel Cabrera and Adrian Gonzalez have lived up to expectations. The odds are not on the Cubs side.
Everyone has their own opinions, but what I don’t/can’t understand is why Heyward commanded such a contract or even consideration at that level. In 6 years with the Braves his average was .262, he had over 20 home runs only once, didn’t ever score 100 runs and never came close to driving in 100 runs. He had a terrific year with the Cardinals, but still didn’t hit .300 or reach the other milestones. And, personally, I am suspect of players who have very good stats that far out pace their personal averages, in their contract year.
So, congratulations to the Cubs. They won the Jason Heyward sweepstakes. He should make their team better, but is he worth it? Time will tell.