Video: How Did These Become Two Of The Worst Free Agent Contracts?

That’s a tough way of looking at it, though some “smoke and mirrors” type of comparison is at least somewhat apt.

Jason Heyward is, or was (?), one of the purest examples of a well-rounded do-it-all contributor of a player who coincidentally became a free agent at 26 years old. You can argue his true value from year to year before then, you can say he’s a defense only player with a lucky bat, you can say the Braves sucked and he only looked good because he was surrounded by clowns in uniforms, etc. but it’s important to reference back to that age he was at free agency and when most, if not all professional baseball players, reach their prime.

I totally hear your argument and that he might’ve been a bit deceptive in his value, but the thing with WAR is that it accumulates as long as the player is productive, it’s not just some number that randomly spits out high/low scores. If Heyward’s prime showed itself in that lone year atop St. Louis’s lineup, you know it wasn’t just the Cubs who noticed. If I recall correctly he turned down even more money (from the Nats?) so he could play with a younger core. Shoot, he was my pipe dream Mariners signing of that offseason too.

I guess what I’m getting at is that the Cubs are stuck with a hilariously awful contract for a player that they probably contributed to ruining offensively, but their utter refusal to make up for that lack of production with additional signings and trades over the past couple seasons is going to make this now-bad thing into an even worse thing.