BREAKING: Jed Hoyer Announces The Jason Heyward Era Is Officially Over (After This Season)
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Well there we have it. I'm in the midst of writing a blog about the Cubs alleged pursuit of a top SS when the news drop comes that Jason Heyward is officially out the door. But not until next year. So just another couple weeks and then we close the book on this prolonged chapter, and they do it a year early.
The mechanics make sense at a high level. Jason Heyward isn't in the future for a number of reasons. Performance is obviously a big one but so is the Cubs outfield depth. It's by far the biggest strength going into the rebuild. Mix in Heyward's personal determination to continue his career and you have the perfect recipe for an amicable split. The Cubs certainly tried their best to get the most out of the deal. Heyward objectively left no stone unturned in his pursuit to earn it. And sometimes shit just doesn't work out the way you want. That pretty much applies to everyone here.
What I can't figure out is the timing. I'm jaded and skeptical. But I want to give the benefit of the doubt to the Cubs that this is just part of the natural life cycle of the roster. Maybe they're signaling a waiver and praying Steven Cohen makes a backdoor call on the rest of his deal for no other reason than the game 7 locker room speech. Maybe there's some layered positive to publicizing this news less than a week after the trade deadline.
Alternatively maybe the Cubs are throwing fans a bone after a disastrous trade deadline. Yes, disastrous. So now maybe this is said to scratch our collective itch. Let us know the front office is already making moves to spread the AB's to better hitters, which may sound like common sense. But logic's been hard to come by the last couple years and it appears this could be a shift in that direction.
Whatever the reason, it sounds like good news for everybody. This is the point where I can easily shit on Jason Heyward but that's nothing groundbreaking as his numbers easily tell that story.
Instead I'd rather emphasize that Jason Heyward has been here every day of the contract while being a model citizen. Hasn't been an asshole to anyone. Hasn't stopped working or being a good teammate or stand up dude in the community. Everyone, everywhere, at literally ALL TIMES has nothing but good things to say about Jason Heyward. That has to stand for something when you consider just how awful he's been on the biggest deal the Cubs have ever given. Truly and sincerely incredible that he hasn't snapped, gone off the grid, outright retired or something of that sort. I don't think I'd be able to say the same but maybe that changes with $184M. Who knows anything at this point.
Hopefully Jed. He's got his work cut out this winter.
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