Heyward to Cubs!

[beckdawg]

3 years and 78 million is far to much. They overpaid AAV for the realistic length of the contract. Not a huge fan of the way this deal is broken out. I don't like the idea of paying him 20 million to go somewhere else. I guess the Cubs figure they will have more money available that year. I was hoping the actual AAV he would earn would have been less than the AAV of the contract so he would be incentivized to stay.

This deal incentivizes him to opt out. I think they made a mistake.

I mean you weren't going to get him to do a deal where it was backloaded because that then makes the opt out clause pointless. And I can understand the initial reaction of $20 mil to play else where but you have to remember that also helps the cubs. The next three years he's only costing them $19.3 mil/season. Sure if he opts out you get nothing and pay him $20 mil that 4th year but that's roughly $6 mil/season you can use on other things these next three. And it's pretty clear the cubs aren't as robust with money as you would like. At least not yet. That 4th year I believe is when they will be able to negotiate their TV contracts and should be flush with cash. I seriously doubt you were going to get Fowler for $15 mil this season considering Colby Rasmus is making $15 mil on the QO. He's probably in the $19-20 mil range. Is the roughly 2-3 fWAR difference between Heyward and Fowler worth $6 mil/season over the next 3 years? Think you'd be hard pressed to say Fowler is more valuable.

That being said, there is the point of "what now" after the 3 years. If Heyward up and leaves, the draft pick they gave up is returned. You do still have the hole he leaves. There's two ways to view that. One you're missing a CF or two you're missing a RF. We'll see what happens with Soler. The cubs also have Eloy Jimenez who should be close to ready by then in RF. In CF Almora is looming and EJ Martinez is also around. So, it's not like the cubs moved their entire organizational plans to fit Heyward in. They essentially just traded Castro and it might be a stretch to say that was because of Heyward.

The way I look at it is Heyward is kind of like Lackey in that he's a short term patch to a organizational weakness they presently have. It's just that in Heyward's case he also happens to be pretty great and you happen to be getting what should be his best years. Both players buy time for hopefully younger players to become ready. And who knows what will happen down the line. Maybe Heyward unexpectedly decides to stay and if he does he's pretty cheap.

 

[czman]

I hate the idea of paying for war. I am not sure the Cubs needed to go to the extreme they did to sign him. It is impossible to know if they could have gotten him for less AAV in the first 3 years.

 

[Parade_Rain]

...
The way I look at it is Heyward is kind of like Lackey in that he's a short term patch to a organizational weakness they presently have. It's just that in Heyward's case he also happens to be pretty great and you happen to be getting what should be his best years. Both players buy time for hopefully younger players to become ready. And who knows what will happen down the line. Maybe Heyward unexpectedly decides to stay and if he does he's pretty cheap.

^^^^ This right here. Waiting for Almora to be MLB ready. Heyward opts out or Soler is traded, etc. Lots of possibilities there, but this was a great signing and a contract that is effective for both player and franchise.

 

[DrGonzo]

And the butthurt just keeps flowing. So very awesome!

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2015/12/24/adam-wainwright-thinks-jason-heyward-didnt-want-to-be-the-man/

 

[SilenceS]

And the butthurt just keeps flowing. So very awesome!

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2015/12/24/adam-wainwright-thinks-jason-heyward-didnt-want-to-be-the-man/

Its remarkable how Adam Wainwright just stepped right into Chris Carpenter's shoes of being the biggest douches in baseball. Ryan Braun is up there as well.

 

[85Bears]

The Cards and their fans are just something else. I've never seen a bigger bunch of assholes, collectively. Even if I wasn't a Cubs fan, I'd hate them. They're kinda like the Patriots of baseball.

I live in the Milwaukee area now (unfortunately), and so everyone here is brewers/packers fans. But we can all find common ground in hating the Cardinals and Patriots.

 

[Bear Pride]

And the butthurt just keeps flowing. So very awesome!

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2015/12/24/adam-wainwright-thinks-jason-heyward-didnt-want-to-be-the-man/

No shit. How amusing is it to see the Cards coming down to these petty tactics, or maybe just stupidity. Come on, JHey's not "the Man" cuz he chose the Cubs??? Good think they got "their Man" in Leake who's gonna "take the Cubs down".

As much as I respect the Cards, I wouldn't mind seeing them completely fall apart with this silly shit next season.

 

[CSF77]

No shit. How amusing is it to see the Cards coming down to these petty tactics, or maybe just stupidity. Come on, JHey's not "the Man" cuz he chose the Cubs??? Good think they got "their Man" in Leake who's gonna "take the Cubs down".

As much as I respect the Cards, I wouldn't mind seeing them completely fall apart with this silly shit next season.

Cards lost their best pitcher and MVP from last year. Their core is old and getting more injury prone. While the Cubs core is around 25 with a few younger and a few older.

They have Baez and Coghlan on the bench. Both can start if needed.

They have 4 pitchers in the pen that have and could start if needed.

Most teams do not have this luxury going on.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

I've been in a strange place with the Cardinals over the last several seasons. For the most part I've continued to dislike their fans while respecting what they've done as a team. I do get a little tired of their claims of "playing the game the right way" though and this nonsense from Wainright and Metheny is even more insufferable. You can't have it both ways guys. Is this type of low road criticism doing it the "right way"? Please.

 

[Parade_Rain]

I think the days of the Cardinals having sustained success is coming to a close soon. This is an organization that has had members caught hacking in to other teams' computer systems. If they are "doing things the right way", they have a strange way of showing it.

 

[beckdawg]

So Upton just got Six years, $132.75M and an opt out. Surprising to me he was able to get almost as much as Heyward did($23 mil/season vs $22.125) considering he had to wait forever.

 

[SilenceS]

So Upton just got Six years, $132.75M and an opt out. Surprising to me he was able to get almost as much as Heyward did($23 mil/season vs $22.125) considering he had to wait forever.

He is going to thrive in Detroit. I would not want to face that lineup regularly. I see 30 plus homers easily in front of Miggy.

Lineup prediction

Kinsler
Upton
Cabrera
JD Martinez
Victor Martinez
Castellanos
McCann
Jose Iglesias
Maybin/Gose

I wouldn't want to be a left handed pitcher facing them.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

He is going to thrive in Detroit. I would not want to face that lineup regularly. I see 30 plus homers easily in front of Miggy.

Lineup prediction

Kinsler
Upton
Cabrera
JD Martinez
Victor Martinez
Castellanos
McCann
Jose Iglesias
Maybin/Gose

I wouldn't want to be a left handed pitcher facing them.

That lineup is fierce. If Verlander is more what he looked like late last year, as opposed of the guy he looked like for the year and a half previously, and Zimmerman is who they paid him to be I like Detroit even a little more than KC in that division.

 

[brett05]

He is going to thrive in Detroit. I would not want to face that lineup regularly. I see 30 plus homers easily in front of Miggy.

Lineup prediction

Kinsler
Upton
Cabrera
JD Martinez
Victor Martinez
Castellanos
McCann
Jose Iglesias
Maybin/Gose

I wouldn't want to be a left handed pitcher facing them.

That's all the White Sox have

 

[Boobaby1]

That lineup is fierce. If Verlander is more what he looked like late last year, as opposed of the guy he looked like for the year and a half previously, and Zimmerman is who they paid him to be I like Detroit even a little more than KC in that division.

Got to bring a little more pitching than Zimmernann switching to the AL, and an up and down Verlander for me.

I would still take the Royals right now because they have what it takes in the field defensively, and have a bullpen to back that up.

Upton and JD Martinez are going to whiff a lot. That said, to me, it is what Cabrera, Kinsler, and Victor bring to the table and if they all stay healthy. Still not sure they have enough pitching, and to think that they got rid of Price and Scherzer over the past two seasons, and replaced them with a combo of Greene, Simon, Norris, and Zimmermann. :thinking:

 

[Diehardfan]

I'm not buying into the Upton hype. I didn't research this so I could be completely off base but it just seems like players going from the National league to the American have problems, particularly in their first season. Names like Dunn, LaRoche, Shark and Cueto come to mind...I just think Upton will tank this year.

 

[SilenceS]

I'm not buying into the Upton hype. I didn't research this so I could be completely off base but it just seems like players going from the National league to the American have problems, particularly in their first season. Names like Dunn, LaRoche, Shark and Cueto come to mind...I just think Upton will tank this year.

He is 28 and is going to hit in front of Miggy. He hit in the most pitcher friendly division last year and put up a stacked line. Barring major injury, he is going to crush.

 

[Parade_Rain]

He is 28 and is going to hit in front of Miggy. He hit in the most pitcher friendly division last year and put up a stacked line. Barring major injury, he is going to crush.

Sounds like a fantasy baseball tip.