The Chicago Cubs granted Jason Heyward his unconditional release on Monday.
A troublesome knee limited the 33-year-old Heyward to just 48 games in 2022, which is obviously not ideal.
The Chicago #Cubs officially release outfielder Jason Heyward. He still is owed $22 million by the Cubs next year.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 14, 2022
In 2016, he signed a huge eight-year, $184 million deal with the Cubs that covered him until 2023.
The rebuilding Cubs decided that Heyward’s roster spot could be assigned to another player with a higher chance of contributing, so they are eating $22 million to grant him his unconditional release and get that roster spot back.
Never a home run hitter, injuries have derailed Heyward’s career in the last few years.
He got off to a brilliant start with the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals.
He Just Wasn’t The Same In Chicago
Since signing in Chicago, however, he just failed to replicate that form.
That doesn’t mean he didn’t help the franchise: in fact, he was there, on the field, when Chicago broke a 108-year curse in 2016.
He was a talented performed in his prime, but that prime did not come in Chicago.
His highest output in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) with the Cubs came in 2018, at 2.7.
That’s far from the career-high 5.6 he had in St. Louis in 2015, or the three seasons above 4.6 he had in Atlanta.
The contract was probably too long and too large to being with, but Heyward was one of the most coveted assets at the time, and the Cubs felt the need to go a bit over market value to secure his services.
Despite the injuries and the underperformance, he was always a pro, and he won two Gold Gloves with the Cubs (five in total).
After 2023, when his salary comes off the books, the Cubs will have some extra financial flexibility to improve their roster.
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