The bad news? The Cubs spent fairly big money on relatively safe bets, hitting on three of them. Heyward is currently on the injured list with knee inflammation and will not play again this year. https://t.co/tavPGTMq6g, Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) August 15, 2016. Have past deals scared Cubs away from free agent market? I think it's been a bit frustrating the last year and a half.". Even a diminished Heyward could be a consistent three-win player. Soto has already posted an OPS+ of 151, which is the 11th highest in history among players of the same age with a minimum of 500 plate appearances. Overpaid: Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles ($23 million) and Albert Pujols, Anaheim Angels ($30 million). He didn't even attempt a stolen base. Fantasy baseball: Which prospects have fantasy value in 2023? . Nobody, including Heyward, will try to tell you he hasn't delivered on the $184 million promise six years into his eight-year contract. He also served up a National League-high 37 home runs. He struck out 219 times in 2016. Now lets go see what happens. , To me, we had a moment. Lewie Pollis of Beyond the Box Score found that it was about $7 million in 2013, a huge increase from about $4 million in 2005. He was someone that even when he was struggling, he tried his hardest every day, every offseason. He never stopped working. The club initially tried to keep that core together to go for a fourth World Series title, but many of those players have now departed, and the ones left are in their 30s. The Milwaukee Brewers right-hander was nothing short of dominant in his first three seasons and was rewarded with All-Star selections in 2018 and 2019. Cubs can't afford to keep missing out on big-ticket players, Roster Move: Cubs give Jason Heyward his unconditional release, 2022 Season Report Cards: Cubs right fielders, 2022 Season Report Cards: Cubs centerfielders, Commentary: Cubs need to be smart this offseason, First Look: Chicago Cubs homestand against Rockies, Commentary: Jason Heyward's goodbye is bittersweet, Morel, Velazquez impress in victory over Nationals, Cubs acquire power-hitting outfielder on waiver claim, It's Happening: Ian Happ deserves an extension with Cubs, Roster Moves: Cubs place Jason Heyward on IL, select outfielder from Triple-A Iowa, Cubs offense explodes in blowout win over Pirates, Cubs continue to struggle with loss to Pirates, Hendricks continues to struggle as Braves shutout Cubs, WATCH: David Ross holds back tears discussing Heyward's decision, Cubs News and Notes: Cubs swept and eliminated, Goodbyes for many, Hoerner makes the cut, Blackhawks honoring the Cubs for winning World Series, Ross updates health of Jason Heyward after hospital visit, Cubs Odds and Ends: Theos not leaving, Kris Bryants future, Balls have replaced steroids, Dissecting the Jason Heyward $184 million contract, WATCH: Jason Heyward, Kyle Schwarber hug it out after miscommunication, Cubs news and notes: KB's injury, Julianna Zobrist's message, standings, more, Cubs News and Notes: Fly the W, Kris Bryant on Maddon, Cubs release veteran, more, WATCH: Lester with the crazy walk-off bunt vs. Mariners, Cubs share photos of Kris Bryant's wedding, Heyward makes Ross cry with retirement gift, Commentary: Speculating and Introducing the 2020 Cubs, Cubs News and Notes: Joe Girardi interested in Cubs, Brewers done, MLB hot stove, more, Cubs News and Notes: Wild-Card Standings, Maddon and Rizzo quotes, Zo's future, more, WATCH: Heyward cusses during postgame interview, gets water thrown in his face, Cubs lineup vs. Rangers, Zobrist to leadoff, ESPN discusses potential Soler trade to Mariners, Jason Heyward sent to the hospital after being light-headed, Cubs players take 'W' flag with World Series trophy to Blackhawks game, LOOK: Awesome Cubs jerseys released for Little League Classic, WATCH: Baez injured in collision with Heyward. The two-time Gold Glove winner has a career .839 OPS. Even his defense has gone from elite to good in recent years. Cubs Insider. Last season was a huge disappointment for the Los Angeles Dodgers, as they were dropped in the NLDS by the rival San Diego Padres. The Dodgers fixing Jason Heyward this quickly is bad news for Cody Bellinger. The five players with a worse wRC+ are all punchless middle infielders; Heyward looks the part of and plays the position of a slugger. Heyward's isn't all that close. While 2016 was another All-Star campaign for the future Hall of Famer, it would be his last. Chris Davis was one of the best hitters in baseball until he signed his seven-year, $161 million contract before the 2016 season. The team signed him to an eight-year, $184 million deal prior to the 2016 season. When he got $180 million dollars from the Chicago Cubs before this season, many thought that it was a genius move. I cant say that the contract was that much pressure, he said. However, some contracts don't age quite as well as others. Heywards deal cost a lot more, for more years, but he filled a huge defensive need unique to the other bidders at the time for a Cubs team with a collective sieve in the outfield and made others around him better even if he didnt deliver for himself in the lineup. He's being paid like a three-win free agent, and he's about that, even this year. The Cubs also must pay his $20 million signing. I appreciate being able to have that. They're the only team with a winning percentage over .600, and their run differential of +201 is 62 runs more than the second-place team, the Nationals. That averages out to $9 million in surplus value, or a bit more than one win. At right is . The contract is the contract, Heyward said. Heyward isn't as useless as some of the players listed here, but the length of the deal and the remaining dollars certainly are an issue. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance. Fried is going to hit free agency after his age 30 season. He was extremely influential in Boston's World Series run. Underpaid: Josh Hader, Milwaukee Brewers ($6.675 million). The Rays were rumored to be shopping their center fielder over the offseason, which was unsurprising. Jason Heyward signed a 1 year / $720,000 contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, including $720,000 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $720,000. Albert Pujols is a future Hall of Famer, but he's now 41 on the last year of a 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) MLB agreed to pay $185 million to minor league players, which proved to them again that the owners were not invincible. Thats what kept him at number five on this list. Despite those heroics, Heyward struggled at the plate for much of his Cubs career. Moncada's 2020 season was affected by the coronavirus. It was disappointing. But I have so much respect for that and understanding as someone who was a baseball fan growing up, on the other side of that. Soto has a chance to become baseball's richest player with the pressure on the Nationals to exceed Tatis' contract. 2023-2023 Not just from a financial perspective, but with the Cubs giving. Thats only in small part because of the famous Game 7 rain-delay meeting he called before the Cubs rallied to finish off their first championship in 108 years. Tatis' contract is based on a small sample size since the 22-year-old has only played 143 games in the major leagues, but the San Diego Padres saw all they needed to see in those games. He had one year and $22 million left on the contract he signed in December 2015. His more traditional numbers left you yawning. The club knew his value would rise steeply if they waited to sign him, but his value rose even faster than anyone anticipated. Like McCann, he's also 30 and coming off two good offensive seasons, but he's still under team control through 2022. That will always be the bottom line to the eight-year, $184 million megadeal that Heyward signed after the 2015 season, switching sides in the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry and bringing some of the. Tatis may end up being a bargain in the later years of his contract, but there are a few players on long-term deals who could be considered overpaid when you take into account their production, or lack thereof in some cases. Login Here. The contract is the contract, Heyward said. Did it bring more attention? Heyward was the same age as Harper and Machado are now when he signed his 8-year $180-million deal with the Cubs. He's coming off a dismal season in which he hit just .167, and Steamer projections give him a 0.2 WAR for 2021. It does need to be mentioned, however, that Cano was a 142 wRC+ hitter last time we saw him over 182 plate appearances in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He's living and shall live a privileged existence. However, he has not lived up fully to his contract with his light hitting display. You dont need me to re-hash why Jason Heywards eight-year, $184 million contract did not work out the way anyone had hoped, from an on-field production perspective. He's coming off a dismal season in which he hit. That effort. Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Jason Heyward. But he's basically right about what he's being paid$184 million over eight years is $23 million per season. And rightfully so. The 32-year-old right-hander was fantastic for the Red Sox in 2018, converting 42 saves with a 2.74 ERA. The Fascinating Jason Heyward Contract. So looking just at this season isn't meant to be a judgment on the contract as a whole. Heyward seems poised to get somewhere around $200 million on an eight- or nine-year deal, and it would be a surprise if it weren't more, absent at least one opt-out clause. He's been one of the worst-hitting regulars in baseball, but his superlative defense means he's still been a decent playerfar from the worst contract. The Cubs will then release him after the season. However, way too much has already gone wrong in this marriage and the chances of Cano being relevant over the next two seasons feels like a pipe dream. Jason Heyward's WAR was Super Awesome. The above is a bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison, though; the market for different positions is different depending on teams' needs and the free-agent market. With the Cubs payroll at the luxury tax threshold, that added insult and financial injury to the organizations failure to develop pitching and effectively marked the rapid decline of that cores competitive timeline. Ellsbury has two years left on his $153 million guaranteed contract. One could make the case for Buster Posey over McCann, but Posey gets the edge since his projected WAR is higher (, The 27-year-old's numbers have steadily declined since he agreed to a six-year, $49.5 million contract with the Rangers before the 2017 season. Garcia's production was particularly bad, hitting only .224-8-35 with 17/109 BB/K . But to be able to show the value of myself as a person in probably one of the toughest times Ive had on the the field and off the field in 2016, to still show Im here for the team, to still play defense the way I play defense, run the bases and just to step in and step up at multiple times when I was needed to be who I am, to be Jason Heyward , We still got a ring, and it took every bit of that from me, he said.