December 14, 2015

ESPNChicago.com, Jason Heyward completes the Cubs offense -- and team makeover http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/36063/jason-heyward-completes-the-cubs-offense-and-team-makeover

ESPNChicago.com, With Jason Heyward, Cubs will head into 2016 wearing a bull's-eye http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/36055/with-heyward-cubs-will-head-into-2016-wearing-a-bulls-eye

ESPNChicago.com, Cubs score big with addition of Jason Heyward http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/36048/cubs-score-big-with-addition-of-jason-heyward

CSNChicago.com, Why Cubs believe winning the offseason won't be a curse http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/why-cubs-believe-winning-offseason-wont-be-curse

CSNChicago.com, How Cubs wound up spending big on Jason Heyward http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/how-cubs-wound-spending-big-jason-heyward

CSNChicago.com, Jason Heyward megadeal reinforces World Series expectations for Cubs http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/jason-heyward-megadeal-reinforces-world-series-expectations-cubs

CSNChicago.com, Cubs: What the Jason Heyward deal means for Jorge Soler and Javier Baez http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-what-jason-heyward-deal-means-jorge-soler-and-javier-baez

Chicago Tribune, Cubs' offseason work isn't finished http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-still-have-work-20151213-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Kris Bryant calls Cubs additions Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist 'perfect fits' http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-kris-bryant-ready-20151213-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Fulfilling high expectations nothing new to newest Cub Jason Heyward http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-profile-jason-heyward-cubs-spt-1213-20151212-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Jason Heyward signing signals Cubs resolve to win World Series now http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-jason-heyward-on-board-cubs-spt-1212-20151211-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Bold move shows Cubs are built to win now http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-cubs-heyward-haugh-20151211-column.html

Chicago Tribune, Cubs land outfielder Jason Heyward http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-jason-heyward-picks-cubs-20151211-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Cubs unloading the wheelbarrow of cash on Jason Heyward http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-unloading-wheelbarrow-cash-jason-heyward-20151211-column.html

Chicago Sun-Times, Target on Cubs' backs? Maddon wants team to "embrace the target" http://chicago.suntimes.com/baseball/7/71/1176424/maddon-wants-high-expectation-cubs-embrace-target

Chicago Sun-Times, Cubs land prized free agent OF Jason Heyward for 8 years, $184 million http://chicago.suntimes.com/baseball/7/71/1173614/cubs-land-prized-free-agent-jason-heyward

Chicago Sun-Times, Cubs' Tom Ricketts finds the money to go for it now with Jason Heyward http://chicago.suntimes.com/baseball/7/71/1174139/cubs-tom-ricketts-finds-money-go-now-jason-heyward

Daily Herald, With Heyward signing, Chicago Cubs show they're not standing pat http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20151211/sports/151219736/

Daily Herald, Rozner: Heyward just part of Cubs' plan to end drought http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20151211/sports/151219728/

Daily Herald, Rozner: Maddon must be giddy when thinking about Cubs lineup http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20151212/sports/151219592/

Cubs.com, J-Hey now, you're a Cubs star, got paid http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/159430726/jason-heyward-chooses-to-sign-with-cubs

Cubs.com, Cubs solidifying winning new reality http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/159589542/cubs-sealing-new-reality-with-offseason-moves

Cubs.com, Cubs may move Soler for starting pitcher http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/159456820/cubs-apparently-seek-another-starting-pitcher

Cubs.com, With Heyward, Cubs boast monster lineup http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/159447046/jason-heyward-makes-cubs-lineup-even-scarier

Cubs.com, Center stage: Precedent for Heyward's move to CF http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/159463344/cubs-jason-heyward-transitions-to-center-field

-- ESPNChicago.com Jason Heyward completes the Cubs offense -- and team makeover By Jesse Rogers CHICAGO -- All the details are yet to emerge, but whether Jason Heyward is a Chicago Cub for three years or for eight, the team got its man. Heyward, an all-around player who brings a skill set the Cubs were lacking, agreed to an eight-year, $184 million contract on Friday with opt-outs, according to sources familiar with the situation, one coming after three years. The team has yet to make the signing official. With the addition of Heyward, along with their other moves, the front office has completely transformed the offense -- and team -- over the last 12 months, putting the Cubs squarely in World Series contention. They already

were contenders before signing Ben Zobrist, John Lackey and Heyward this offseason, but now they’re more complete than ever. No longer do the Cubs have to hope for a warm summer or for the wind to being blowing out; they now can win games in many ways, both on the mound and at the plate. At the end of this past season, Theo Epstein identified three areas of improvement for 2016: situational hitting, outfield defense and stopping the run game of the opponent. You can check off two of three so far, as Zobrist and Heyward are quintessential contact hitters while the latter is one of the best right fielders in the game. For the moment, it looks like the Cubs were not able to complete a second trade-and-sign as they did with Starlin Castro and Zobrist. In that case, it needed to happen as Zobrist wanted to play second base and Castro had to be moved in order for the signing to occur. But with center field open, the Cubs weren’t forced into a trade, so they may go to spring training with Jorge Soler still in right and Heyward in center. It doesn’t improve their outfield defense as much as it would with Heyward in right, but it’s still a situation that can work. The Cubs now have a new second baseman, shortstop and center fielder since opening day 2015. Run prevention up the middle has not been an afterthought. Now their offense is nearly complete. After bringing home runners from third base with less than two outs at a league-low rate of about 41 percent, the Cubs picked up two players who are both above 50 percent for their careers. In 2014, Heyward brought home an incredible 20 of 27 (74 percent) players in those situations. Last year he dropped to 54 percent, still higher than every Cub regular, save Anthony Rizzo. Contact, on-base ability and power. The Cubs have it up and down their lineup now. The front office Anyone who has been paying attention knows Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer forecasted nearly everything that’s happened to the Cubs since they took over. They didn’t hide their rebuilding plans, instead taking advantage of them. They may or may not admit it publicly, but the best thing to happen to them back then was not having any money to spend. It freed them up to tear the team down and build it back up quickly. They said they would bring in young talent and rebuild the farm system through trades and the draft and then they would spend money. Some didn’t believe the last notion, because they’ve been burned so many times, but there was Joe Maddon signed to a big deal, then Jon Lester, then Jason Hammel. Then a trade for Miguel Montero added payroll, and then more came this offseason with Zobrist, Lackey and now Heyward. The Cubs even bit the bullet and are paying Edwin Jackson for another year to stay away. Epstein promised transparency and he delivered. And now for the second offseason in a row, he and ownership delivered one of the top free agents available. The move for Heyward has almost an old-school feel to it. They paid big money to a player who doesn’t hit home runs. That doesn’t happen often, but when that player fits the exact needs of the team -- and is only 26 -- there’s no reason not to go for it. If he leaves after three years so be it. The window with this current pitching staff is about that long, save Lester who’s here for five more years. Soon enough, the Cubs' young position players will be hitting arbitration and the payroll will skyrocket. The more flexibility they have, the better they will be. The opt-out clauses were brilliant -- for the player and the team. The downside to the deal comes if Heyward isn’t very good and the Cubs are stuck with him for eight years. The deal is back-loaded, according to a source familiar with it, so the Cubs should reap the benefits of it early, but if he’s not very good later in the contract he’ll be eating up a bigger part of their payroll. That’s also when the Cubs should have more money through television deals. The positives far outweigh the negatives. This is a good player who helps make the Cubs a great team. The National League is there for the taking, and one year after knocking on the door the Cubs have burst through it with a second consecutive successful offseason. Winning the winter doesn’t mean winning the World Series, but in this case the Cubs might win both. --

ESPNChicago.com With Jason Heyward, Cubs will head into 2016 wearing a bull's-eye By Jon Greenberg CHICAGO -- One would imagine there was a bit of mischievous joy in the Chicago Cubs' inner circle as rumors of Ben Zobrist choosing between the Cubs and the New York Mets spread around the winter meetings in Opryland. Meanwhile, Zobrist was getting a physical in Chicago to finalize a $56 million deal. The Cubs certainly didn’t hide their shopping plans as the offseason shopping season began, but they didn’t thump their chests going into the winter meetings either. "We've been working with our business side on ways to create a little more room for 2016 within the parameters that we have," Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told Chicago reporters last Friday. "I wouldn't rule anything in or anything out.” A week later, the Cubs had landed Zobrist, veteran starter John Lackey (two years, $32 million) and the headliner, outfielder Jason Heyward, who agreed on Friday to a reported eight-year, $184 million deal that comes with two opt-outs, according to reports. The Cubs already were World Series favorites; now they’ll go into 2016 wearing a bull’s-eye as big as that video board in left field at Wrigley. Cubs manager Joe Maddon can handle it. After a 97-win season rejuvenated a rebuilding franchise, Epstein and his crew have improved the team tremendously, with more moves likely to come. Heyward is a perfect addition as the Cubs have stockpiled young, cost-controlled power hitting in Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and, if he doesn’t get traded for pitching, Jorge Soler. Addison Russell is a stellar defender at shortstop, and now Heyward joins him as a top-10 defensive player. Cubs fans should be elated because the team has gone from young upstart to big-market favorite in the span of a season. The Cubs might have to hold a parade to kick off the annual Cubs Convention in January. Last year’s surprising run to the National League Championship Series showed the potential of this roster, but a four-game sweep by the Mets sobered everyone up to the notion that this team needed more firepower to compete until the end. We all figured that meant the Cubs would throw whatever “big money” they had at a starting pitcher because the cupboard was bare after Jon Lester and Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta. But as we saw with David Price, Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller, the price of pitching, be it dollars for free agents or prospects for a trade, quickly ballooned. Lackey will do, but figure that the Cubs will add another starter at some point. They have a strong minor league class moving into Double-A this season, just in time to be tradable commodities. It's all about the present now. As it should be. Frankly, I didn’t think the Cubs had the money to do a Heyward-type deal and add around $26.5 million in 2016 money for Lackey and Zobrist. Before the playoffs began, I’m not sure the Cubs' front office did either. In the beginning of October, the Cubs didn’t know how much the 2016 budget would increase, beyond a nominal upgrade. But there was a sense that getting close to the brass ring would inspire chairman Tom Ricketts to expand the previously conservative baseball budget, which also was hampered by financial restrictions built into the 2009 purchase of the team. The Cubs wound up getting four home playoff games, boosting the coffers. After filing my column about the Cubs winning the wild-card game, I was walking to my hotel in Pittsburgh when I passed members of the business side of the team reveling at a downtown bar. One guy waved me in and forced upon me a glass of expensive whiskey. They had ordered late-night pizzas. The group had good reason to celebrate. Baseball and business were syncing up.

I imagine that continued in private North Shore homes on Friday night. Ticket prices are going up, and with an expected increase in attendance that means a river of money flowing into the overall budget. Even with the Ricketts family’s debt obligations and other associated expenses, the Cubs, still years away from a potentially mammoth TV rights deal, will be more profitable than ever in 2016. The family certainly has ponied up for this season, with a payroll finally up to major market levels. That doesn’t mean the Cubs will make that fateful trip to the World Series. After all, the Mets and Royals weren’t the biggest spenders this year. But the Cubs have attacked their needs so far, with another starting pitcher the only real remaining hole. It's not just about adding big names. The Cubs have plenty of pop, and they’re adding guys who will get on base and score. How about Heyward and Zobrist in the top two spots in the lineup, in whatever fashion Maddon chooses to slot them? In the past two seasons, Heyward has a walk percentage of around 10, a strikeout percentage around 15, and 225 singles and 59 doubles. Over that same span, Zobrist has walked around 11 percent of the time and struck out between 10.5 and 12.8 percent, with 185 singles and 70 doubles. Zobrist was 38th in FanGraphs’ wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) rankings, one spot ahead of Heyward. Heyward had a 6.0 WAR, 11th best in baseball, just behind Bryant’s 6.5. Bryant has more power, but Heyward has a little bit of everything else. Heyward is best known for his defense. He has won three Gold Gloves, and FanGraphs had him as the league’s sixth-most valuable defensive player, using its “defensive runs above average” metric. While defensive analytics aren’t anything to pledge allegiance to, Heyward obviously is very skilled in the outfield. Given that the Cubs sacrificed defense for offense in the outfield last season -- a smart move, to be sure -- he’s a necessary fit in this roster, whether he plays right field or moves to center. If this signing reminds you of what happened nine years ago -- has it really been that long? -- you’re not crazy. Heyward, like Alfonso Soriano in the winter of 2006, instantly makes this team better. Don’t forget, Soriano led the Cubs into two postseasons before the gambit fell apart. And no one has to worry about the team going broke and getting sold this time. Heyward will be 26 when the season begins, just entering his prime, four years younger than Soriano was in 2007. The Cubs already are loaded with talent, with more on the way. Forget the money. Don’t sweat Heyward’s lack of power numbers. He’s a very good player and he will help push this team back to the postseason. While no one wants to win just the offseason, the Cubs have the pieces to win again next October. -- ESPNChicago.com Cubs score big with addition of Jason Heyward By Jesse Rogers CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs netted arguably the best outfielder available on the free-agent market in agreeing to terms with Jason Heyward, though the team has not confirmed the signing. The reason: The Cubs loved the idea of picking up a 26-year-old in his prime instead of the usual 30-or-older free agent. And Heyward’s strengths play into the Cubs' weaknesses from a season ago, as he’s one of the best defensive outfielders in the game while bringing a career .353 on-base percentage to the plate. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is less than 2-to-1, which will play well at the top of the Cubs' lineup -- especially combined with fellow newcomer Ben Zobrist. He was the right player at the right age at the right time for the Cubs. The impact: If Heyward does indeed move to center field, his impact on the team will be even greater. The Cubs were weak in the outfield on defense, and even though center has not been his main position, he’s bound to be an

improvement. If the Cubs trade right fielder Jorge Soler, then Heyward will undoubtedly move back to right, where he’s won three Gold Gloves. While other teams have wrestled with his lack of home run punch, the Cubs won’t need Heyward to take a single at-bat in the middle of the lineup, as they have plenty of power in the form of Kyle Schwarber, Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant. The Cubs' Opening Day lineup looks dynamic. This is just one version of what manager Joe Maddon can pencil in on a given day: Ben Zobrist, 2B Jason Heyward, CF Anthony Rizzo, 1B Kris Bryant, 3B Kyle Schwarber, LF Jorge Soler, RF Miguel Montero, C Addison Russell, SS Jake Arrieta, P -- CSNChicago.com Why Cubs believe winning the offseason won't be a curse By Patrick Mooney Theo Epstein hasn’t been on an offseason roll like this since ... the Boston Red Sox traded Anthony Rizzo to the San Diego Padres in the Adrian Gonzalez deal and signed Carl Crawford to a $142 million contract? “Expectations got so high,” Epstein remembered. “People were speculating: ‘Is this the greatest team of all-time? A super-team? An uber-team?’” The 2011 Red Sox started out 0-6 and 2-10, finished August in first place in the American League East and then lost 20 games in September, missing the playoffs in a spectacular collapse that led to manager Terry Francona being forced out and The Boston Globe publishing the fried-chicken-and-beer story. Tired of the power struggles at Fenway Park and looking for a new challenge, Epstein bolted to Chicago that October for a president’s title with the Cubs and a direct report to ownership. “It is an unbelievable dynamic the last few years,” Epstein said, “how the winners of the offseason tend to be miserable the following September.” Epstein said that during the general managers meetings in the middle of November, when the idea of spending $272 million on bulldog pitcher John Lackey, super-utility guy Ben Zobrist and Gold Glove outfielder Jason Heyward sounded completely unrealistic given the franchise’s financial limitations. But Epstein’s front office lobbied chairman Tom Ricketts and Crane Kenney’s business operations department, and the Cubs got creative, pulling off some accounting tricks and reinvesting money generated during a surprising trip to the National League Championship Series. A franchise that usually seems so focused on the future and risk management thought big and acted decisively, trying to win a World Series. After Heyward agreed to an eight-year, $184 million contract and started trending on Twitter on Friday, Jason Hammel set the bar for the 2016 Cubs at “#162-0.” So there would be no confusion, the veteran pitcher clarified his tweet three minutes later: “Strike that. Reverse it. Let’s make that 173-0.” After being the fun-loving, out-of-nowhere team that won 97 games last season, the Cubs will now be the hunted. “The target’s going to be bigger, and I want us to embrace the target,” manager Joe Maddon said during the winter meetings. “The pressure is going to be possibly greater, and I want us to embrace the pressure.

“The bigger target, the greater pressure, I think, equals a grander chance for success. So I’m all about that, and I definitely will bring that to our guys’ attention. “(With) the accountability of our young players — combined with our veterans — I really believe we could avoid those kind of pitfalls.” Who knows if this means more or less zoo animals, but the Cubs do have the perfect manager to distract the media, keep the clubhouse loose and make rapid-fire decisions in the dugout. At least the Cubs haven’t been thrown together like Ozzie Guillen’s reality-show Miami Marlins. The Cubs have their thin-skin moments and certainly try to shape public opinions, but they really don’t care what you think about this trade or that contract or make baseball decisions based on TV ratings or the next morning’s headlines. The Cubs also have a foundation that appears to be stronger than the White Sox and Padres teams that won last year’s winter meetings — and wound up finishing 37 games out of first place combined. Lackey probably won’t be amused by the Chicago media or have patience for nonsense questions. It was also interesting to see the mixed reactions to the Lackey signing on Twitter from Cubs fans ready to rubber-stamp any Theo move. But Maddon worked as Mike Scioscia’s Anaheim Angels bench coach when Lackey beat the San Francisco Giants in Game 7 of the 2002 World Series. Epstein already drew up a five-year, $82.5 million contract with Lackey in Boston, where he reshaped his image after the fried-chicken-and-beer stuff and Tommy John surgery by helping the Red Sox win the 2013 World Series. Maddon and Epstein insist Lackey brings an edge to the clubhouse, takes charge of the rotation in between starts and pushes teammates to get better. Zobrist is one of Maddon’s favorite players ever after spending nine seasons together with the Tampa Bay Rays and transforming a last-place team into a World Series contender. Heyward is getting paid like a superstar now, but the Cubs really just need him to be a supporting player who does the little things, grinding out at-bats, getting on base, going first-to-third and performing at a Gold-Glove level. The idea of “don’t try to be something you’re not” probably appealed to Heyward after being surrounded by so much hype with the Atlanta Braves. This lineup already has 40-homer threats in Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber. This didn’t create a splash, but the Cubs are feeling optimistic about Adam Warren — the swingman acquired from the New York Yankees in the Starlin Castro trade — and insurance policies like Trevor Cahill, Clayton Richard and Travis Wood. Because, as Epstein said: “We’ve been walking a tightrope with our lack of starting-pitching depth.” The Cubs still haven’t really mortgaged their farm system yet, meaning there should be plenty of trade chips available to get whatever they need leading up to the July 31 deadline. “Organizations that are the healthiest,” Epstein said, “(with) the most talent coming through the pipeline, the fewest holes, the most areas of surplus and depth, tend to have the least active offseasons. And those organizations tend to win. “It means they’re doing something right. It means they have ways to address their needs internally. It means they have a lot of talent spread out in different areas of the organization. The teams that sometimes quote-unquote ‘win the offseason’ do so in response to a glaring need to infuse talent in a number of different areas. “A healthy organization is not made by virtue of one busy offseason. It’s really years and years and years of planning, hiring scouts and development people and putting processes into play and seeing that approach manifest over time.”

Whether or not the Cubs are paper tigers, the only guarantee is they will be the biggest story in the baseball world in 2016. -- CSNChicago.com How Cubs wound up spending big on Jason Heyward By Patrick Mooney “No,” Theo Epstein said, he didn’t see the Cubs being able to do two deals in the $100-million range this offseason. “You can pretty much apply that one going forward, at least until we get a TV deal, and probably beyond…that’d be a big winter.” This was Nov. 9, the beginning of the general managers meetings, when the idea of signing Jason Heyward to an eight-year, $184 million megadeal – without cutting corners everywhere else on the roster and handcuffing future Cubs teams – sounded like a fantasy. Dressed in a T-shirt, gym shorts and sneakers, Epstein had just finished a workout when a few Chicago writers stopped him near the registration desk of the Boca Raton Resort & Club. The president of baseball operations had brought his wife to South Florida and looked and sounded like he would rather be anywhere else on the waterfront property than a hotel lobby crawling with reporters and agents. Epstein has a law degree and always chooses his words carefully, but this wasn’t a misdirection play, because other teams always think the Cubs are playing with Monopoly money anyway. Epstein also has a wicked sense of humor, but he wasn’t trying to punk the media, because it’s always been in his best interests to explain The Plan. The calculus changed within the last few weeks, leading up Friday’s reports that Heyward had turned down $200 million offers elsewhere. A payroll picture that looked murky on Sept. 1 or Oct. 1 or even the middle of November came into sharper focus before the winter meetings at Nashville’s Opryland complex. Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer pried open the franchise’s financial black box, working with chairman Tom Ricketts and Crane Kenney’s business operations department to grab money generated during a surprising run to the National League Championship Series. The Cubs would reinvest in a team that has: two more seasons before Jake Arrieta hits the free-agent market; a ticking time bomb in Jon Lester’s $155 million contract; and no stud pitching prospects anywhere close to making The Show. Next winter’s class of free agents also didn’t look very appealing, so the Cubs wanted to binge this offseason instead of throwing money at the wrong players. For years, the Cubs have been a rigid, conservative operation, limited by the leveraged partnership between the Ricketts family and Sam Zell’s Tribune Co. (in a deal that included a piece of Comcast Sportsnet Chicago). The big-market spending power would only be back in full force with the anticipated launch of a new Cubs channel in 2020 (assuming the cable bubble doesn’t burst before then). A front office that sometimes tends to overthink things absolutely pounced on big-game pitcher John Lackey, super-utility guy Ben Zobrist and Heyward, bankrolled by a business side that got good reviews for Wrigley Field’s Video Board Era after initially handling the rollout of the restoration plan in such a clumsy manner. Whatever business vs. baseball tensions exist, the Cubs just dropped $272 million on Heyward, Lackey and Zobrist, taking two valuable players away from a 100-win St. Louis Cardinals team, trading former All-Star shortstop Starlin Castro to the New York Yankees and getting creative with the structure of those contracts.

Even if you get The Plan, this is still a stunning transformation for a franchise that hasn’t won the World Series since 1908 and finished in fifth place every season between 2010 and 2014. Cubs fans burned by overhyped prospects before can now watch Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant play here through the 2021 season, because a calculating front office drafted the right guy with the No. 2 overall pick in 2013 and manipulated the service-time system. (The Houston Astros packaged underwhelming pitcher Mark Appel – the first pick that year – in Saturday’s 5-for-2 trade with the Philadelphia Phillies for closer Ken Giles.) A team that seemed to have a new manager every year – Lou Piniella, Mike Quade, Dale Sveum and Rick Renteria since 2010 – now has three-time Manager of the Year Joe Maddon. All those sign-and-flip deals for the future ultimately yielded a Cy Young Award winner and multiple key contributors to a 97-win team. Now add Heyward, who clearly fits Epstein’s vision of a well-rounded athlete, someone who can grind out at-bats, run the bases, play Gold Glove defense in the outfield and look good on the actuarial tables at the age of 26. “The season that we had as a team was something that not many people expected,” Arrieta said after the Cy Young announcement. “Most of those people were outside of our organization, people that didn’t necessarily know everything that we were about, and the types of guys we had, and the character we had overall. “To have the pieces that we have aligned for next season – and (a) number of years to come – it looks like we’re going to have a pretty bright future.” -- CSNChicago.com Jason Heyward megadeal reinforces World Series expectations for Cubs By Patrick Mooney The Jason Heyward megadeal reinforces the World Series expectations at Wrigley Field, the gigantic exclamation point to what’s already been a frenetic offseason for the Cubs. Heyward chose the Cubs over the St. Louis Cardinals and agreed to an eight-year, $184 million contract, sources confirmed Friday, reigniting what should be a great rivalry and showing the baseball world this team is absolutely serious about winning it all in 2016. In Heyward, the Cubs get a 26-year-old outfielder with three Gold Gloves, a career .353 on-base percentage and a reputation for being a professional clubhouse influence. All those attributes – ideal age, elite defensive skills, an ability to grind out at-bats, off-the-field presence – made the Cubs see Heyward as a sound long-term investment. It’s the targeted approach that led Theo Epstein’s front office to super-utility guy Ben Zobrist and big-game pitcher John Lackey, two players signed within the last week for $88 million combined. Winning 97 games and two playoff rounds changed the equation for the president of baseball operations, who last month publicly ruled out the idea of doing two nine-figure deals this winter and didn’t say that as a smokescreen. Working in concert with the Ricketts family and Crane Kenney’s business operations department across the last few weeks, Epstein’s baseball group got creative and freed up more money, using postseason revenues to keep the momentum going. Heyward reportedly turned down more money – the Washington Nationals were also believed to be heavily involved in the bidding – and received two opt-out clauses. Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Dave Stewart told reporters at the winter meetings that Heyward was “looking for $200 million.” Yes, Heyward has made only one All-Star team, never driven in more than 82 runs in a season and hit 20-plus homers only once in his career. But at this point, the Cubs don’t need a middle-of-the-order basher with Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant already established as All-Stars.

Heyward is a strong foundation piece in areas where the Cubs are structurally weak, and he wanted to play for a winning team that would appreciate what he brings to the ballpark every day. Heyward, who grew up in Georgia, debuted with the Atlanta Braves and blasted a three-run homer off Carlos Zambrano in his first big-league at-bat on Opening Day 2010. If the Braves had manipulated the service-time system the way the Cubs did with Bryant, then Heyward wouldn’t have been a free agent this offseason. While Heyward didn’t necessarily live up to the superstar expectations drawn from that first impression at Turner Field, he’s a well-rounded athlete who’s been top-10 in WAR among National League position players in four of his six seasons. The Braves traded their hometown, homegrown outfielder to the Cardinals in November 2014, with St. Louis viewing it as a one-year recruiting pitch for Heyward and seeing him as the next core player for an 11-time world champion. But the Cubs keep selling 1908 and the chance to make history. Zobrist has already said his only goal is to win a World Series in the next four years, and those great expectations will be the same for Heyward. While the Zobrist move had to be made in concert with the Starlin Castro trade to the New York Yankees, the belief was the Cubs didn’t have a Jorge Soler deal lined up immediately. But this obviously gives the Cubs even more options as they aggressively reshape the team that got swept out of the NL Championship Series. The New York Mets exposed some free-swinging tendencies in October and defensive issues in the outfield. Heyward can be a left-handed presence near the top of the lineup and a short-term fix in center before moving back to a corner spot. This comes 12 months after the Cubs gave Jon Lester what had been the richest contract in franchise history, a six-year, $155 million megadeal that accelerated the rebuild in Wrigleyville. Lester and Lackey will be in a rotation fronted by Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta. Heyward can bat in front of a unanimous Rookie of the Year pick (Bryant) and perennial MVP candidate (Rizzo). Joe Maddon – now a three-time Manager of the Year – will be running the show. After the delirium of an unexpected playoff run, anything less than a World Series title in 2016 will be a big disappointment. -- CSNChicago.com Cubs: What the Jason Heyward deal means for Jorge Soler and Javier Baez By Patrick Mooney Jason Heyward opens up even more possibilities as the Cubs try to win the World Series in 2016 and still keep their window to contend open for years to come at Wrigley Field. But while juggling so many balls in the air, the Cubs won’t be immediately flipping Jorge Soler or Javier Baez, sources said in the aftermath of Friday’s eight-year, $184 million commitment to Heyward. There’s not another “multiple bank shot” lined up for team president Theo Epstein, the way the Cubs could only sign Ben Zobrist to a four-year, $56 million contract once the New York Yankees agreed to take on Starlin Castro’s money ($38 million guaranteed) and give up a valuable pitcher (Adam Warren). The prices for pitching keep soaring, and that’s one reason why the Cubs plan to hold onto their young hitters for now, beyond Baez and Soler’s untapped potential.

The demands from the Cleveland Indians (Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco) and San Diego Padres (Tyson Ross) aren’t going to suddenly drop when the Arizona Diamondbacks just paid a fortune in the Shelby Miller deal, sending the Atlanta Braves a No. 1 overall pick (Dansby Swanson), a highly regarded pitching prospect (Aaron Blair) and a big-league outfielder (Ender Inciarte). The Cubs have been talking directly to those teams about offense-for-pitching trades since at least last summer. The cost of acquiring the young starter the Cubs would want in any Soler deal is seen as unreasonable with the Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox driving up that market, too, by laying out $423 million for Zack Greinke and David Price. In terms of depth, the Cubs have already diversified their pitching staff with swingmen like Warren, Trevor Cahill, Clayton Richard and Travis Wood. Baez is now the insurance policy if shortstop Addison Russell has another hamstring injury and an antidote to day games at Wrigley Field, allowing Zobrist to recover during his age-35 season and third baseman Kris Bryant to get a mental break. Zobrist is supposed to be more of an everyday second baseman now, but in a best-case scenario for 2016 the Cubs see Baez in the super-utility role once perfected with Joe Maddon’s Tampa Bay Rays teams. Maybe the winter-ball experiment works in Puerto Rico and Baez could occasionally play center and move Heyward over to the right-field spot where he won three Gold Gloves. “I think Javy has a chance to be a lot like Zobrist was in Tampa,” general manager Jed Hoyer said this week during the winter meetings. “He can play everywhere and play everywhere really well. If someone gets hurt, he can slot into that position and play there for a long time. “But if we’re healthy, the ability to move around like that is really valuable. Joe being able to move Zobrist and Baez around gives him so much flexibility. It gives the roster so much flexibility. That’s kind of how we’re envisioning things right now.” The Cubs could always do more with the pitching staff and add specific role players – and no one is untouchable – but Maddon now has the defensive versatility he craves and a monster lineup for October. -- Chicago Tribune Cubs' offseason work isn't finished By Mark Gonzales The Padres and White Sox were proof last season that winning the offseason is worthless. In the case of the Cubs, they realize that adding Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist and John Lackey doesn’t guarantee automatic success, and team officials spoke openly of addressing areas so that they won’t be forced to make desperate mid-season moves. Here are their three major points of emphasis before pitchers and catchers report to Mesa on Feb. 19. Pitching General manager Jed Hoyer spoke of building “firewalls” after achieving 97 victories in the regular season without sustaining a significant injury. Starting pitchers Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks combined for 128 starts, and Lackey made 33 starts for the Cardinals.

But the workloads of all five pitchers were extended in the playoffs, and the Cubs currently have no major league-ready starter in their system that could fill a spot in the rotation for a lengthy amount of time. The Cubs did re-sign left-hander Clayton Richard and Trevor Cahill, and acquired Adam Warren, all of whom have starting experience along with their recently history of relief success. A veteran scout for an American League team that pursued Warren believes he will emerge as an effective starter for the Cubs. Adding a starting pitcher under team control could provide more insurance, and Theo Epstein often has spoke of an ideal scenario with 10 major league or major league ready starting pitchers in spring training. Depth Filling the projected final spot on the roster could be dictated by 24 other spots. But with 32-year-old Miguel Montero coping with a damaged left thumb in the final two months, 38-year-old David Ross likely entering the final year of his career, Kyle Schwarber spending some time in left and Willson Contreras destined to start at Triple-A Iowa, a dependable backup catcher on a non-roster contract would be welcomed. Shortly after an agreement with Heyward surfaced, many teams inquired about the availability of right fielder Jorge Soler, according to a source. Although Heyward is only 26, the Cubs would benefit from an experienced reserve center fielder. This role cannot be stressed enough, with Schwarber still being evaluated as a catcher and a left fielder, and Soler having played no more than 101 games in a season in his professional career. The anticipated improvement of Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Schwarber at the plate could lessen the need for more offense. But manager Joe Maddon isn’t afraid to employ double switches early in games and make full use of his bench, so versatility off the bench becomes even more essential. With Albert Almora at least one season away from challenging for a spot on the major league roster, the Cubs will need a dependable defender in center since Chris Coghlan, Soler and Schwarber are primarily corner outfielders. The Cubs got a lot of mileage out of center fielder Dexter Fowler, but his defense was missed in games he didn’t play. That’s why Javier Baez’s audition for Santurce in the Puerto Rican League should be scrutinized. Money Epstein and Hoyer have expressed their appreciation to the business department for giving them more flexibility to structure deals that satisfied Heyward, Zobrist and Lackey without harnessing their long-term plans. Negotiations with Arrieta, 29, are expected to begin shortly. With the projected free agent market for marquee pitchers expected to thin after this winter, it seems unlikely he’ll settle for an extension that will buy out a few years of free agency. Pending terms of the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Cubs realize that Kris Bryant and Addison Russell are lined up for big raises as first-year arbitration-eligible players in 2018, with Schwarber eligible the following season. Arrieta, Bryant and Russell are represented by super agent Scott Boras, and Arrieta will earn close to $11 million through arbitration, and closer Hector Rondon and valuable set-up reliever Pedro Strop are likely to earn close to a combined $10 million. The contracts of Edwin Jackson and Hammel (a combined $20 million) come off the books after 2016, but that is offset by increases to Anthony Rizzo and Zobrist. --

Chicago Tribune Kris Bryant calls Cubs additions Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist 'perfect fits' By Mark Gonzales Kris Bryant, who finished one RBI short of the century mark in his Rookie of the Year season, no longer has to worry about a certain Gold Glove outfielder playing for a division rival. "(Jason) Heyward can run," Bryant said Sunday with a sheepish grin. "He robbed me of a few hits last year, so I'm glad he's on our team now. It's going to be fun to see him and (Ben) Zobrist at the top of the order.'' Bryant, who was in town for a promotional appearance before the Redskins-Bears game, loves the Cubs' prospects with the additions of Zobrist and Heyward, the former Cardinal whose official signing is expected to be announced once he passes a physical examination. "Those two are perfect fits because we struck out a lot last year and we'll have our fair share of strikeouts," Bryant said. "But those two hitters are completely different, so it will be nice to have those guys at the top of the order." Heyward has a lifetime .353 on-base percentage and has struck out 98 times or fewer in his last three seasons with the Braves and Cardinals. And Zobrist struck out only 56 times in 535 plate appearances in 2015.So the Cubs like their chances of cutting down on their major league-leading 1,518 strikeouts. Bryant, 23, says he can't wait for spring training and started preparing last month. He resumed hitting last week and has addressed other areas, such as stamina and nutrition. "Honestly, I didn't want to stop playing at the end of the year," Bryant said. "I felt good where my swing was at, but my body needed (a rest). This is a game I want to play for as long as I can. In order to do that, you've got to love it. And I love it. "Our games are ending so late, and the only option you have after the postgame spread is pizza. This (nutrition program) is definitely a lot better for me to replenish my body. And over the grueling 162 games, this will help me over the course of the year." Bryant didn't seem to mind being in the middle of a grievance filed on his behalf by the Major League Baseball Players Association, which contends the Cubs manipulated his service time so that he wouldn't be eligible for free agency until after 2021. The grievance was filed in May but didn't become public until last week. "We have the best union in all of sports," Bryant said. "It's nice to see they have your back. But it was filed in May. I'm not in the loop. I'm here to go to bat for the people after me. I'm willing to do that if the system can change. There are flaws in every system. This is an important one we can fight for.'' -- Chicago Tribune Fulfilling high expectations nothing new to newest Cub Jason Heyward By Mark Gonzales Coach John Savage realized his chances of getting Jason Heyward to fulfill his commitment to UCLA in 2007 were slim, especially after the Braves selected the multitalented local standout with the 14th overall pick in that year's draft. The suspense did last a while, though, as Heyward didn't agree to a $1.7 million bonus with the Braves until four days before the deadline.

Now, more than eight years later and with an eight-year, $184 million contract, Heyward embarks on the biggest challenge of his baseball career — achieving the greatness projected for him since high school. "Everything stands out about Jason," said Cubs infielder Tommy La Stella, who has known him since their days in the Braves organization. "He has been 'The Man' for a long time." In joining the rising Cubs, loaded with young stars and seasoned veterans, the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Heyward won't be required to carry the bulk of the team freight. But there will be high expectations to put up numbers commensurate with the richest contract in franchise history. So far, the milestones of batting .300, hitting 30 home runs and driving in 100 runs in a single season have eluded him. Nevertheless, Heyward's supporters portray him as incredibly unselfish with a multitude of intangibles and no diminishing skills that could hamper the Cubs' effort to win their first World Series since 1908. "It's in there," a Braves source said of Heyward's ability to post bigger numbers. "He does whatever he has been asked to do. He's a principled person." While batting primarily second in his rookie season in 2010, Heyward finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year balloting after batting .277 with 18 home runs and 72 RBIs. But a right rotator cuff injury stunted his development in 2011 before he rebounded the following season as a middle-of-the-order hitter when he posted career highs of 27 home runs and 82 RBIs. "You have to remember he was batting in one of the biggest parks (Turner Field)," the Braves source said. Heyward again was at or near the top of the order in 2013 and had a .403 on-base percentage in 134 plate appearances from the leadoff spot. His production from the top spot is encouraging because he could end up there for the Cubs with versatile Ben Zobrist and power hitters Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber behind him in the Cubs' order. The Braves traded Heyward after 2014 as part of a rebuilding process, while the Cardinals sought a replacement in right field after the death of top prospect Oscar Taveras. With free agency one year away, Heyward decided to postpone any negotiations with the Cardinals until after the season, and responded with a .293 batting average and 23 stolen bases — both career highs. La Stella believes Heyward's tabling talks until free agency was designed solely to refrain from becoming a distraction to teammates, adding that his batting average reflected his commitment to the team. "He sets a good example for anyone who plays with him," La Stella said. Savage, who has coached three teams to the College World Series (including a 2013 title) in his last six seasons at UCLA, quickly noticed Heyward's professional demeanor in separate visits to Heyward's hometown in McDonough, Ga., and during lunch in Malibu, Calif., during a recruiting visit in 2006. "He was way beyond his years, physically and mentally," Savage recalled. "People treated him with respect and looked up to him. He made people around him better." Despite the distance from Georgia to Southern California and his projected first-round status, Heyward was extremely sincere about the chance to attend UCLA. Kenny Washington, an uncle of Heyward's father Eugene, played on John Wooden's NCAA championship basketball teams during the 1963-64 and 1964-65 seasons.

"He was in tune with the UCLA tradition and helping us build the program," Savage said. "He was sincere, just like his parents (who met as students at Dartmouth)." Heyward has haunted Cubs fans since his first major-league at-bat — a three-run homer off Carlos Zambrano in the 2010 opener. He is a lifetime .311 hitter at Wrigley Field. Heyward also possesses the range to play center field and cover the gaps, which will be essential with Schwarber in left field and Jorge Soler in right. Heyward prevented the Cardinals from getting swept in a three-game series on Sept. 20 at Wrigley when he moved to the gap in right-center to catch Addison Russell's fly and then made a strong throw to home plate to nail Anthony Rizzo to help preserve a 4-3 victory. It was one of the 122 defensive runs Heyward has saved since 2010 — the most in the majors over that span. "It's like he has a time clock in his head," La Stella said. Heyward's clock with the Cubs now is running. -- Chicago Tribune Jason Heyward signing signals Cubs resolve to win World Series now By Mark Gonzales The Cubs gave their World Series-thirsty supporters the biggest of numerous gifts Friday at the expense of their long-standing rival. In agreeing to terms on an eight-year, $184 million contract with 26-year-old outfielder Jason Heyward, the Cubs completed their fourth major acquisition during an eight-day span while further weakening a Cardinals team that has won three consecutive National League Central titles. The Cubs didn’t confirm the deal, the largest in their history, as Heyward must pass a physical before it becomes official. But a source confirmed the agreement, adding that the Cubs sold the multitalented Heyward on their future and the chance to play a significant role in winning their first World Series since 1908. For now, the Cubs also have weakened the Cardinals, who lost 13-game winner John Lackey to them as well when the free-agent starter agreed to a two-year, $32 million deal Dec. 4. At baseball's winter meetings Tuesday, the Cubs signed All-Star utility player Ben Zobrist to a four-year, $56 million contract and acquired pitcher Adam Warren from the Yankees for expendable second baseman Starlin Castro within a one-hour span. That momentum obviously carried into the tail end of the negotiations with Heyward, a three-time Gold Glove winner playing right field who possesses a lifetime .353 on-base percentage. Although many observers seem surprised that the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Heyward has hit more than 18 home runs only once in his six-year career with the Braves and Cardinals, the Cubs obviously believe his best days are ahead. Heyward is a career .311 hitter at Wrigley Field, where for now he's expected to take over for free agent Dexter Fowler in center field. Heyward also may bat leadoff, a role he fulfilled during parts of his five years with the Braves. In 126 games batting leadoff, Heyward has hit .280 with a .354 on-base percentage. Heyward's ability to get on base should enhance RBI opportunities for Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber — who all are 26 or younger. Heyward leads major-league outfielders with 122 runs saved since 2010 and his baserunning skills are expected to please manager Joe Maddon, who places a premium on those talents.

Being part of a talented and youthful lineup was another reason why Heyward was swayed toward the Cubs instead of the Cardinals and Nationals. One source said Heyward turned down $200 million from the Nationals to sign with the Cubs, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Heyward rejected a similar financial offer from the Cardinals. Despite the silence from the front office, numerous Cubs players expressed their jubilation on Twitter. "Even though I might have to change my number (22), I'm perfectly okay with that," Russell tweeted. "I just wanna help fly that #W." Bryant tweeted: "Lackey, Zobrist & J-Hey. Cubbies comin in hot!!" Since taking over baseball operations before the 2012 season, Cubs President Theo Epstein has stressed building sustained success. But the recent signings reflect some urgency, especially after the Cubs surprised many baseball observers when they won 97 games and advanced to the National League Championship Series before the Mets swept them in four games. Heyward's contract includes two opt-out clauses, with the first as soon as after 2018 or 2019 depending on plate appearance thresholds. In structuring the contract, the Cubs believe Heyward will be able to achieve the greatness forecast for him after the Braves took him as the 14th overall selection in the 2007 amateur draft. Heyward hit a career-high 27 home runs in 2012 with the Braves, although 18 of those homers were hit away from spacious Braves Field. In his contract year with the Cardinals last summer, Heyward hit a career-high .293 with a .359 on-base percentage to go with 13 home runs, 60 RBIs and 23 stolen bases in 154 games despite batting in an injury-depleted lineup. The creatively-structured contracts of Lackey and Zobrist, thanks in part to the cooperation of the Cubs business operation along with a mega local television contract expected to crystallize before the 2020 season, made it possible for the Cubs to acquire Heyward. And with Heyward coming aboard, the Cubs may not be done. A source said numerous clubs have inquired about right fielder Jorge Soler, with the Braves, Rays and Indians among the most interested, and the Cubs still desire more starting pitching. With 2015 National League Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta eligible for free agency after 2017 and Lackey's contract expiring at the same time, the Cubs would like another starting pitcher under team control for several seasons. -- Chicago Tribune Bold move shows Cubs are built to win now By David Haugh For everyone who believed the Cubs lacked the resources or the willingness to spend the money necessary to become a legitimate World Series contender, Chairman Tom Ricketts has two choice words for you. Jason Heyward. The Cubs outbid the Cardinals and Nationals for the outfielder Friday, removing any doubt about Ricketts’ financial commitment to winning and solidifying manager Joe Maddon’s team as the one to beat in the National League

Central. Adding Heyward strengthens the Cubs as much as it weakens the Cardinals, who also lost starting pitcher John Lackey to their division rivals north on I-55. What’s next, a Mike Shannon’s Grill in Wrigleyville? Anybody in St. Louis checking the deed on the Arch? You can circle April 18 on your Cubbie calendars now — that’s the first time the Cubs visit Busch Stadium with their newest former Cardinals in tow. Of more importance, you also can start thinking about what this means for next October because the Cubs have been built to win now. Forget about the money from the Wrigley Field renovation or the TV deal kicking in; the Cubs are acting like an organization planning on a payoff sooner rather than later. Critics will wonder about the size of Heyward’s contract — one that will be well north of Jon Lester’s $155 million deal and likely for eight years — and it’s fair to ask whether a .293 hitter with 13 home runs and 60 RBIs last season merits such an investment. But sabermetricians salivate over Heyward’s WAR of 6.5, the most among Cardinals position players last season, and his three Gold Gloves make him a welcome addition in center field, his new position. This isn’t the Cubs signing Alfonso Soriano in 2007 to a splashy eight-year, $136 million contract they would live to regret. This is the Cubs making a bold baseball move that reflects the marketplace as much as their urgency. Soriano was 31 when he joined the Cubs; Heyward is 26 — the youngest position player to sign a $100 million free-agent contract since Alex Rodriguez. And if Heyward helps the Cubs win a World Series in the early years of his deal, then it will be worth every overpaid penny he receives on the other side of 30. How ironic that Heyward was available for the Cubs to sign in free-agency because his service time began opening day 2010 with the Braves when he was just 20 years and 239 days old. If the Braves had waited several weeks to start Heyward’s clock the way the Cubs did with Kris Bryant last spring, he would have had to wait until the end of his sixth full season in 2016 to become a free-agent. Now Heyward joins Bryant on the best young roster in baseball, one President Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer aggressively retooled after a 97-win season. The Heyward move comes days after the Cubs added super-utility man Ben Zobrist, who turns 35 in May, to a four-year, $56 million contract. Simultaneously, the Cubs traded infielder Starlin Castro — one of their best hitters last September — to the Yankees for right-handed pitcher Adam Warren. You could question whether Zobrist will be worth $14 million per year after his 37th birthday or whether the Cubs could have gotten more for a 25-year-old, three-time All-Star with 991 career hits. You could point out the Cubs still need pitching. But one of the most significant things the Cubs won besides 97 games last season was the benefit of the doubt. Maddon, Epstein and Hoyer obviously know what they’re doing. And after signing Heyward, it’s just as clear Ricketts will help them do it however he can. -- Chicago Tribune Cubs land outfielder Jason Heyward By Mark Gonzales The Chicago Cubs capped a stunning eight days by agreeing to terms on a multi-year contract with prized free agent outfielder Jason Heyward, a source said Friday. The agreement with Heyward, 26, a three-time Gold Glove outfielder who is a lifetime .311 hitter at Wrigley Field, caps a furious push by the Cubs in their quest to win the World Series and achieve sustained success. During an eight-day span, the Cubs signed free agent pitcher John Lackey and super utility player Ben Zobrist, acquired pitcher Adam Warren from the Yankees in a trade for Starlin Castro and agreed to terms with Heyward. The previous transactions presumably had an influence on Heyward, who agreed to an eight-year, $184 million contract - according to numerous reports. The deal also includes two opt-out clauses, according to Peter Gammons.

The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Heyward is a lifetime .268 hitter and has hit more than 18 home runs only once in six seasons, but the Cubs are banking on his upside and fortifying a lineup with Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and Addison Russell – all are 26 or younger. The Cubs swayed Heyward from the rival Cardinals, who are expected to pursue free agent outfielder Alex Gordon, and the Nationals. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but the Cubs’ finances were expected to be enhanced by a lucrative local television contract after 2020. The team also put themselves in a more realistic financial position to sign Heyward by signing Lackey to a two-year contract and Zobrist to a four-year, $56 million contract that pays him only $12 million in 2019 - the final year of his deal. Trading Castro also removed $38 million from the Cubs' financial commitments over the next four seasons. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Cardinals offered Heyward a franchise-record contract. The Cubs are far from finished completing their off-season moves. Heyward can play center field, but the Cubs could keep him in right field and move Jorge Soler to acquire a defense-oriented center fielder or pursue another starting pitcher under team control. Heyward has a lifetime .353 on-base percentage and has a career .280 batting average and .354 on-base percentage from the leadoff spot. -- Chicago Tribune Cubs unloading the wheelbarrow of cash on Jason Heyward By Paul Sullivan The Cubs went into the offseason talking about adding to their rotation, but their main focus evidently was on outfielder Jason Heyward. It was Theo Epstein’s version of rope-a-dope, culminating in Heyward agreeing to an eight-year, $184 million deal Friday. Whether Heyward is worth the money will play out over several years, or maybe sooner if he exercises one of his opt-out clauses. But if he helps the Cubs win a World Series before leaving, the debate will be moot. Of course, they were saying the same thing nine years ago when Alfonso Soriano signed an eight-year, $136 million deal that some front-office executives panned. Soriano didn’t win a single postseason game with the Cubs and ultimately was dumped on the Yankees, with the Cubs paying millions to have him taken off their hands. “It’s hard for me to understand how you can justify $136 million for a player of Soriano’s caliber,” then-Padres CEO Sandy Alderson said of the Soriano deal. “I don’t know what justifies that contract, other than a lousy won-loss record over the last several years.” So how is this deal any different? For one, Heyward is only 26 and entering his prime, unlike Soriano, who was 31 when he began with the Cubs with the plan of becoming the new leadoff man and center fielder.

And Heyward is joining a 97-win team on which he will be a complementary player — albeit an expensive one — not the expected centerpiece of the lineup Soriano was asked to be in 2007. The ’06 buildup set the stage for the sale of the team. Tribune Co. knew it would not be paying the final years of Soriano’s contract if it turned out to be an albatross. Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts is stuck with Heyward for better or worse. True, it’s a lot of money for someone who never has driven in or scored 100 runs in a season. Heyward’s 60 RBIs last year for the Cardinals were five fewer than recently exiled Starlin Castro’s total. The Cubs basically are changing the unwritten rules of free agency by rewarding Heyward for his Gold Glove defense in right field, paying him for his 6.0 wins above replacement figure (WAR) — second among free agents to Yoenis Cespedes’ 6.7 — instead of his unspectacular run production. As a matter of perception, the Cubs are rewarding their fans for their patience. It’s the second straight offseason the Cubs reeled in one of the top available free agents after giving starter Jon Lester a six-year, $155 million deal last December. Remember last spring when the Cubs’ top business executive, Crane Kenney, spoke of the wheelbarrow full of money he planned to give Epstein from revenues stemming from the Wrigley Field renovations? The wheelbarrow has landed. After his free-spending ways in Boston, Epstein has been itching to throw some money around, as he did in his premature venture into the market after the 2012 season when he gave starter Edwin Jackson a four-year, $52 million deal. That didn’t work, though Jackson gave up a game-winning home run to the Cubs last summer while pitching for the Braves, earning his playoff share. But for the most part, Epstein has stuck to the game plan of rebuilding through the draft and the sign-and-flip strategy that netted Jake Arrieta, Pedro Strop and Carl Edwards Jr., among others. The real spending spree was supposed to come after 2016, but the young Cubs spoiled that idea when they succeeded in their first year under Joe Maddon. Epstein got the green light and didn’t look back. The Cubs and Cardinals have been at war for longer than a century, and there’s no dispute about which team has been on the winning end. But ever since Maddon’s memorable rant in September against the Cardinals Way, when he accused an unnamed “Tony Soprano” wannabe of ordering a hit on Anthony Rizzo, things clearly have been going the Cubs’ way. The Cubs took that series at Wrigley Field and are 3-0 against their archrival in head-to-head battles since October. They not only ousted the division winners in the offseason but now have removed John Lackey from their rotation and swiped one of their top position players as well, even as the Cardinals reportedly outbid them. Epstein gradually has learned how much Cubs fans love hating the Cardinals, and now he’s giving them exactly what they want. So instead of giving the really, really big check to David Price or Zack Greinke, the Cubs simply opted to give the bulk of it to Heyward after the four-year, $56 million deal for Ben Zobrist and the two-year, $32 million deal for Lackey. Heyward isn’t the prototypical slugger who usually commands such mega-contracts, but a Gold Glove outfielder with speed and relatively modest power numbers. He had 13 home runs last year, and only four after July 1.

But Heyward can steal bases (43 in 50 attempts the last two seasons) and has a .353 career on-base percentage. And he did hit 27 home runs as recently as 2012. At 26, Heyward could develop more power, though the Cubs probably will just ask him to be himself. Either way, Heyward’s arrival means Maddon now can use his chess board in many different ways. The Cubs can trade outfielder Jorge Soler for more pitching or a defensive-minded center fielder like the Rays’ Kevin Kiermaier, leaving Heyward in right. They can make Heyward the regular center fielder and keep Soler in right, giving Soler more time to reach his potential. They can make Heyward the regular center fielder and platoon Zobrist and Soler in right, with Javier Baez and Zobrist sharing time at second. They can give Baez a chance in center and use Heyward in both center and right. They can give Kris Bryant some playing time in center, with Baez at third and Heyward in right. The possibilities seem endless, just the way Maddon likes it. There are still things to do this winter, and the Heyward signing could ignite the fall of more Cubs dominoes. Epstein said last month at the general managers meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., that “winning the offseason” was not a goal of his, and sometimes it can be the kiss of death. He looked forward to “the day when we might lose the offseason altogether,” which would mean they made few moves because they were loaded with talent. “I feel great about the health of the organization overall, but we have needs so it’s on us to address them,” he said. “But it is an unbelievable dynamic the last few years how the winners of the offseason tend to be miserable the following September.” The Cubs may not have won the offseason yet, but they’re definitely in the running. Then it will be on Maddon and the Cubs to buck that trend next September. -- Chicago Sun-Times Target on Cubs' backs? Maddon wants team to "embrace the target" By Gordon Wittenmyer Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, and John Lackey. Add them to Jake Arrieta, Kris Bryant, and Joe Maddon. And just like that, the biggest, baddest challenge for the Cubs in 2016 might be that they suddenly look like the biggest, baddest team on the block. “I don’t want to say if it’s more difficult or not,” said Maddon, the National League Manager of the Year. “The point is everybody knows us now. The target’s bigger. They’re going to study us even a little bit harder.” Maddon said that on the day the Cubs landed All-Star super utility man Zobrist and less than 72 hours before they landed the jewel of their off-season, $184-million outfielder Heyward – who agreed to an eight-year deal Friday. The Cubs aren’t done. Sources say they continue to troll the trade market for hard-to-get young starting pitching and plan to add depth pieces in the outfield and on the pitching staff. But they expect at this point to be done with marquee moves. Regardless, until the Cardinals quit hemorrhaging players this winter and actually start adding, the Cubs look right now like clear favorites in the National League Central in 2016. Some national pundits already are calling them World Series favorites.

If the great unknown at this time last year was just how good the young players might be for a retooling last-place team, this time it’s about how they’ll respond to their 97-win success and the klieg lights of great expectations. “The pressure is going to be possibly greater,” Maddon said. “And I want us to embrace the pressure. The bigger target, the greater pressure, I think, equals a grander chance for success. So I’m all about that, and I definitely will bring that to our guys’ attention.” What’s certain is the Cubs won’t sneak up on anybody the way they did on much of the league in 2015, coming off five consecutive losing seasons. But they also won’t face nearly the transition as last season, even with all the new additions. Lackey, the veteran starter signed this month, has former teammates in the clubhouse, including his best friend in the game, Jon Lester. The reigning Cy Young winner (Arrieta), an All-Star first baseman (Anthony Rizzo) and the 2015 Rookie of the Year (Bryant) all return for a second season under Maddon. And the coaching staff remains intact from the previous season for the first time since 2009. If they stay relatively healthy, the only team that can keep the Cubs from building on last year’s success might be the Cubs. And Maddon – who will open the season with the highest-salaried team he’s ever managed – said he’s already thinking ahead about that, especially when it comes to a large group of second-year players who had collective success as rookies. He dismissed the “sophomore jinx” as a function of adjustments by and against the league. “Sometimes you will get the group that takes things for granted and believes or concedes that it’s just going to happen again,” he acknowledged. “I’ve already talked to [the front office] about the fact that’s the one thing I’ve been thinking about, is how to avoid that, and the conversation I need to have early on in camp, without being negative, without being critical of our guys … “They’re coming off a wonderful season. It’s a very complimentary kind of think. You want to talk to them and praise them. But the target’s going to be bigger. And I want us to embrace the target. “With the combination of the accountability of our young players and with our veterans, I really believe we could avoid those kind of pitfalls.” And after following an October playoff victory against the rival Cardinals with the off-season blows of nabbing their players? “I love it, absolutely love it,” he said. “I grew up a Cardinal fan, a fierce Cardinal fan, and now I get to work against that feeling that I had as a kid. It’s no different than the Red Sox vs. the Yankees. It’s very good for baseball having the Cardinals-Cubs as two relevant teams. “I’m jacked up about it. I can’t tell you how fortunate I feel to be involved in this whole moment.” -- Chicago Sun-Times Cubs land prized free agent OF Jason Heyward for 8 years, $184 million By Gordon Wittenmyer Theo Epstein just pulled off a week with the Cubs like he never had with the Red Sox.

Now all the Cubs team president has to do is recreate the October results he pulled off in Boston. That’s where Jason Heyward comes in. The Cubs landed their top free agent target Friday when the Gold Glove, All-Star outfielder agreed to an eight-year, $184-million, sources said – Heyward turning down bigger offers to play for the young, rising Cubs. Also finalists for Heyward were the Nationals and the Cardinals, who got just one year from the right fielder after acquiring him a year ago from the Braves for Shelby Miller. Sources say Heyward will open the season as the Cubs’ center fielder. The deal, which includes vesting opt-out clauses after the third and fourth seasons, is expected to become official in the next few days. If he plays to the end of the contract, it would be the biggest in franchise history. The club would not confirm nor comment on the deal. “BOOM!!!” Cubs catcher/left fielder Kyle Schwarber tweeted after news broke Friday. Heyward, 26, is the third big free agent the Cubs added in an eight-day stretch, including starter John Lackey (two years, $32 million) and Ben Zobrist (four, $56 million). Heyward and Lackey both were signed away from the rival Cardinals, with Heyward turning down more overall money (but less than the Cubs’ $23 million average), the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. They were the National League Central-champion Cards’ top performers in terms of wins above replacement (WAR) in 2015, swinging a combined 12.1 value north to the Cubs — who finished three games behind the division-champion Cardinals in the National League Central before beating them in the playoffs. It was the kind of winter week against a rival Epstein never experienced against the Yankees during his nine years as Red Sox general manager. Thirteen years ago this month he had the Red Sox rent out every room of a hotel in Nicaragua to keep out the competition during negotiations for Cuban free agent Jose Contreras – and still lost the pitcher to the Yankees. The following winter, after losing in the playoffs to the Yankees, he had a deal done with the Rangers for Alex Rodriguez, only to have the players’ union nix the deal over terms on a restructured contract – and the Yankees swooped in five weeks later to trade for Rodriguez. This time around Epstein has a team built around a young hitting core, with a popular players manager, coming off a 97-win season and seeking the biggest championship story left to be told in American sports – factors Zobrist said made him, too, decide to sign for less than others were offering. And the Cubs have an especially bright-looking two-year window to chase it – which may have played into ownership’s decision in recent weeks to increase the baseball operations budget enough to create the means to land Heyward. “We’re much more focused on the short-term than we were,” general manager Jed Hoyer said leading up to the Heyward deal – comparing the front office mindset to even last winter. “Our now is very bright.” A source said some of the payroll increase came out of the $12 million windfall from the Cubs’ unanticipated playoff. It boosted the major-league payroll budget to roughly $140 million, one source confirmed.

Team sources say the Cubs are still looking to add pitching depth for 2016, but are likely done with major moves. The plan for now is to keep defensively challenged right fielder Jorge Soler – who has been the subject of trade talks with multiple teams in an effort to acquire pitching. Heyward, who homered off the Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano for the Braves in his major-league debut in 2010, was an All-Star that season but was considered by some an offensive disappointment since then – largely because of his unimpressive power numbers. On the other hand, he’s one of the best outfielders in the game, both according to scouts and metrics – his 122 “defensive runs saved” leading the majors by a large margin during his six-year career. And he’s a uniquely young free agent – the Cubs locking him up through his prime-age years even if he opts out after three or four years. Tweeted Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant (with awestruck-face emojis): “Lackey, Zobrist & J-Hey. Cubbies comin in hot!!!” -- Chicago Sun-Times Cubs' Tom Ricketts finds the money to go for it now with Jason Heyward By Rick Morrissey A round of applause, please, for Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, who has been smacked a time or 50 in this space for not spending like someone from a billion-dollar family should. On Friday, Ricketts found the money to lure former Cardinal outfielder Jason Heyward to the North Side. I don’t know where $184 million could possibly have been hiding, but Ricketts located what hadn’t been there before. Good for him, and good for the Cubs. It gives the franchise a lineup that includes Ben Zobrist, Kyle Schwarber, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Heyward. Good, Lord. Is there a ballpark that can contain all these hitters? Will refurbished Wrigley Field be able to handle the bruising that is headed its way? Heyward is one of those players on whom traditionalists and the analytically inclined can agree. He hit .293 and had a WAR of 6.5 last season, the latter tops among all Cardinals’ position players. He has won three Gold Gloves and is among the best in the game in defensive runs saved. Is he worth $184 million over eight years? He is if the Cubs say he is. It’s nice to see them spending big well before the arrival of what is expected to be a massive TV contract after the 2019 season. That expected windfall has been the rallying cry from a segment of numbers-driven fans for a few years now: Wait till 2019! But why wait? The Cubs are coming off a 97-victory regular season and a trip to the National League Championship Series. And your owner comes from money. This is the time to hit the gas pedal and go for it. Ricketts and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein have done just that, giving a two-year, $32 million contract to John Lackey, a four-year, $56 million contract to Zobrist and now a bag of money to Heyward. This is what teams that want to win now do. It’s what teams in New York, Las Angeles and Chicago are supposed to do. Epstein’s much-repeated goal of sustained success is a wonderful concept. Winning one World Series for the first time since 1908 is a better one. But the Cubs can have it both ways. It’s what those of us agitating for aggressive spending (and David Price) have been screaming to the mountaintops. Adding Heyward to this team means the Cubs can win now and later. You can have it all.

Ricketts dug into the money that Cubs fans spent last season and what they’ll spend next year in raised ticket prices. He dived into the revenue streams that came from the new video boards. He used the unexpected cash that came with the team’s success in the playoffs. All of it is a nod to the idea that winning is the thing that matters. For too long, that hasn’t been emphasized enough on the North Side. Everything else has. Sunshine. Beer. And sunshine and beer. I don’t want to give the impression that the Cubs have just signed a future Hall of Famer. Heyward isn’t a huge home run hitter or run producer, though he did hit 27 homers and drive in 82 runs for the Braves in 2012. In fact, what stands out about Heyward is that he has never put together a string of great seasons in traditional stats. His second-highest home-run total was 18, during his rookie season. Until last year, he hadn’t hit above .277. But the Cubs needed a centerfielder badly with the expected departure of Dexter Fowler. They got a great outfielder with range. If you thought the Cubs were tilting a bit too far toward ancient with the recent signings of Zobrist (35 in May) and Lackey (37), Heyward’s signing should make you feel a lot better. Carbon dating will not be necessary. He is 26. By signing Heyward and Lackey, the Cubs have further weakened the Cardinals, the reigning N.L. Central champs. For someone like Epstein, few things are better than adding to your roster and subtracting from your rivals’. The Cubs are better off today than they were when the season ended, and that’s saying a lot, given what they achieved in the postseason. I’m not convinced they have enough pitching to win it all in 2016, but they have a chance. That’s all anybody wants. That’s all anybody has wanted out of the Cubs for a century plus. A very good team just got better. Now, when does the season start? -- Daily Herald With Heyward signing, Chicago Cubs show they're not standing pat By Daily Herald Good organizations don't stand pat or rest on their laurels, even after enjoying success. That's my main take-away from the Chicago Cubs' 2015-16 off-season, an off-season that may include even more big moves. After their recent signings of pitcher John Lackey and infielder Ben Zobrist and the trade of infielder Starlin Castro to the Yankees, the Cubs lowered the boom Friday by agreeing on a free-agent contract with outfielder Jason Heyward, who played the 2015 season with their Gateway Arch rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. Baseball sources confirmed the agreement, which is contingent on Heyward passing a physical exam. For that reason, Cubs officials cannot comment on the deal. Heyward is a right fielder by trade but he has played center field, and he may do so again with the Cubs. He still could end up in right if the Cubs trade current right fielder Jorge Soler for pitching as the Cubs are not done seeking help in that area. In getting the 26-year-old Heyward, the Cubs beat out the Cardinals and the Washington Nationals and may not have had the highest bid. That may be a testament to team president Theo Epstein, general manager Jed Hoyer and field manager Joe Maddon in selling Heyward (and other players) on the Cubs, Wrigley Field and Chicago. Reports have the Heyward deal at eight years and $184 million. Initial speculation had Heyward commanding upward of $200 over 10 years. Other reports say Heyward has multiple opt-out possibilities in the deal, including one after his first three years with the Cubs. It also appears the Cubs' business-operations department stepped up

big time in finding money to afford this winter's spending spree when it looked like the baseball-side budget originally might not have provided such freedom. The Cubs were a 97-win team last season, and they beat the Pirates in the wild-card game and the Cardinals in the division series before falling in four straight to the New York Mets in the National League championship series. The future looked bright enough with that team, but instead of coming back with that bunch entirely intact, the Cubs did more than tweak. They made significant changes while keeping their core of young players. Lackey adds depth to a starting rotation that was perilously thin after ace Jake Arrieta and lefty Jon Lester, last year's big free-agent signing. While it might have been a little painful to trade longtime Cub Castro, they obtained pitching depth in Adam Warren, and the trade enabled them to sign versatile veteran Zobrist, who may be the opening-day leadoff man if Heyward doesn't bat first and play center field. In Heyward, the Cubs are getting a player who put up a batting line of .293/.359/.439 with 13 home runs and 60 RBI in 2015, his first and only season in St. Louis after being traded from the Atlanta Braves. For his six-year career, Heyward has a line of .268/.353/.431 with 97 home runs and 352 RBI. The Cubs got an eyeful of Heyward in his major-league debut, on April 5, 2010. After the Cubs had taken a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a home run by Marlon Byrd, Heyward highlighted a 6-run bottom of the first by homering in his first big-league at-bat, which came against Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano. Heyward had his biggest season in 2012, when he hit 27 homers and drove in 82 for the Braves. With Heyward facing free agency after this season and the Braves heading toward a rebuilding program, Atlanta traded him to the Cardinals. Interestingly, had the Braves waited until the middle of April in 2010 for Heyward to make his debut -- as the Cubs did this year with rookie third baseman Bryant -- they could have gotten an extra year before he attained free-agent status. The Cubs have dealt a double body-blow to the Cardinals this winter, signing away two of their most valuable players in Lackey and Heyward. The Cardinals won the NL Central this season with 100 victories before falling in four games in the division series, with Lackey beating Lester in Game 1 at St. Louis. -- Daily Herald Rozner: Heyward just part of Cubs' plan to end drought By Barry Rozner The Cubs would have won the World Series last season if Kris Bryant had been on the Opening Day roster. The Cubs don't care about winning or they would have traded Bryant and Kyle Schwarber at the trade deadline for Ben Zobrist. Tom Ricketts is cheap and the world is flat. Yup, you just can't help some people. But while they have floundered about, the Cubs stuck to the plan, rebuilt from scratch and are now going for it all with a window that is wide open for the next six or seven years.

Not a coin-flip game. Not a single postseason. Not one and done. The window is wide open for years to come, just as Theo Epstein had hoped it would be when he explained the plan at his very first news conference. That opportunity has come and the Cubs have gone for it all, at the same time holding onto all of their best prospects. It's genius, pure genius. For those who never understood the plan, the Cubs, coming off a 97-win season, are now considerably better on paper than when they lost to the Mets in the NLCS and will be favored to win the World Series in 2016. Or maybe you still think they should have traded Bryant, Schwarber, Addison Russell and Javy Baez for Jason Heyward a year ago. Whatever. The Cubs have added Heyward, Zobrist and John Lackey without subtracting a single player off their roster. This is the same Epstein who doesn't care about winning and the same Ricketts who is too cheap to go for it all. Heyward, Zobrist and Lackey for nothing more than dollars from the Cubs' coffers. So strategic were these signings that they stole two crucial players from the division-winning Cardinals, prevented three other National League contenders from getting Heyward, and three other N.L. contenders from signing Zobrist. In the same week, they traded a player they didn't want and didn't need (Starlin Castro) while dumping his entire salary, and acquired a pitcher (Adam Warren) who was the Yankees' best starter in the first half of 2015, and was removed from the rotation only because a veteran returned from injury. He then pitched well out of the bullpen, which gives the Cubs a versatile pitcher who could be their fifth starter or someone who can be a long man or seventh-inning specialist. So as you look back to the NLCS against the Mets and think about how the Cubs needed to get better, the boxes needing to be checked are growing fewer by the day. They needed a veteran starter with postseason experience and they got Lackey on a short-term deal and at reasonable dollars before the market exploded. They needed to get better defensively in the infield and outfield, so they added Zobrist, who can play everywhere, and Heyward, one of the best defensive outfielders in the game. They needed guys who can get on base and work counts and run the bases like they have a clue, and they've done that with Heyward and Zobrist. The Cubs are still looking to deal for more rotation depth and bullpen arms, so it's not as if they're done, and they still have chips to deal, such as Baez and Jorge Soler, chips they held onto at the trade deadline when they had no clue whether they would reach the coin-flip game. So the Cubs won 97 games in a year in which they thought they would win 81. The held on to all of their best prospects, reached the NLCS and their weaknesses were exposed. Now, they have shored up many problem areas and are still working to get better.

The scariest part about all of this is Anthony Rizzo has not yet reached his prime and will get better, especially now with protection in the lineup. Bryant, Schwarber and Russell have all been here for about 15 minutes and are merely scratching the surface of their abilities. So if you liked what you saw from those three terrific rookies in 2015, wait until you see them by August 2016, August 2017 and August 2018. Yeah, while some didn't get the plan and wanted the Cubs to trade those players for veterans, the Cubs now have those veterans and they still have all those kids. Epstein has put them in a position to compete for a World Series every year for the next six or seven years, and not mortgaged the farm for a single coin-flip. In other words, consistent chances to win it all with an eye toward maintaining this level of play for as long as possible, giving them multiple opportunities to end the most painful and mind-numbing drought in sports history. Sounds like a plan. -- Daily Herald Rozner: Maddon must be giddy when thinking about Cubs lineup By Barry Rozner In this, the season of giving, you need not remind Chicago Cubs fans of how much they have already received. And it would be greedy to ask for a center fielder, another starting pitcher and maybe a bullpen arm, right? No, not at all. It's prudent. The Cubs are the favorites to win the World Series, and they didn't get there by tiptoeing into the winter meetings. They're clearly going for it all, and they can still get better. Joe Maddon's not satisfied and he has no reason to be as long as he keeps asking and Theo Epstein keeps giving. Talk about an early Christmas, Maddon must be giddy as he tinkers with lineups and dreams about the possibilities -- and wow, there are so many possibilities. You've probably written one down already, with the signing of Jason Heyward opening up the chance to do almost anything. Heyward has hit second more than any other spot during his career (996 plate appearances), followed by third in the order (587) and leadoff (570). Next is fifth (396), sixth (313) and seventh (281), followed by cleanup (179), eighth (76) and ninth (31). Maddon could make a case for placing Heyward anywhere in the order except for eighth. Knowing Maddon, he could probably sell that, too. Seriously, you could bat Heyward almost anywhere and easily explain why it makes sense. In a perfect world, Addison Russell would succeed leading off, followed by Heyward, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist, Kyle Schwarber, Jorge Soler and Miguel Montero, giving the Cubs a righty-lefty flip throughout the lineup.

Can you imagine that? Schwarber as a No. 6 hitter, or Soler as a No. 7 hitter? That is some lineup and not much of a break for the opposition. Not that teams seem to care anymore, but Russell hasn't displayed the OBP to merit leading off, though Maddon and Epstein would prefer someone who sees a lot of pitches, and Russell was seventh in the National League in 2015 in pitches per plate appearance -- as a rookie. More likely, Heyward will lead off, followed by Zobrist, Bryant, Rizzo, Schwarber, Soler, Montero and the pitcher, with Russell ninth, where he got 84 percent of his at-bats in 2015. But Maddon will mix and match until he finds what he likes, and except for seeing Bryant third and Rizzo fourth, you can expect constant change, the likes of Heyward, Schwarber, Zobrist and Soler moving all over the order. What has to be frightening for the opposition is that Schwarber could hit as low as No. 2 or as far down as fifth, six or seventh. Seriously, seventh? Schwarber would be my early pick to lead the league in home runs in 2016 after hitting 16 in only 232 at-bats as a rookie, and 15 of those came from the two hole, where he saw 81 percent of his at-bats. It's a scary lineup with so many possibilities, and that's barring any further improvements. As for the pitching staff, the Cubs are one serious starting pitcher from feeling really good about their staff for next season. If they add another starter along the lines of John Lackey or better, the Cubs are four deep with genuine competition for the No. 5 spot. Adam Warren, Jason Hammel, Kyle Hendricks and Trevor Cahill can compete for starts and give the Cubs options if there are injuries. In the bullpen, Epstein has been adding arms since the NLCS ended, and don't be surprised if that process continues through spring training. The Cubs are in an envious position with a powerful lineup that should score a lot of runs in 2016, but this is hardly a perfect team. Epstein knows the Cubs are in the driver's seat and his history suggests he will not stop now that it appears as if the Cubs have jumped in front of the pack on paper. He doesn't need to be reminded that the Cubs finished third in their division last season and 97 wins wasn't enough to avoid a coin flip. Epstein doesn't want to risk being in that game again and he's not going to stop working until he feels more comfortable. Of course, there are never any guarantees. Injuries can take apart a season fast and put a shocking end to dreams of confetti and parades. So at a time when thoughts turn to candy canes and sugar plums, decorations and presents, Epstein is thinking more about the heat of summer and the July 31 trade deadline, setting in his mind those targets that he may not be able to hit before Christmas. Rest easy, Cubs fans, though you look for more under the tree and have visions of what might be, your president is still at work -- looking to stuff one more big box with one more lovely red ribbon. --

Cubs.com J-Hey now, you're a Cubs star, got paid By Carrie Muskat CHICAGO -- One of the lures for free agents signing with the Cubs has been the desire to be on the team that wins the World Series and ends the century-plus drought. Apparently, Jason Heyward wants to be on that team. The free-agent outfielder -- who reportedly turned down more money from the Cardinals and Nationals -- has agreed to join the Cubs on an eight-year contract worth $184 million with two opt-outs, the first being after the 2018 season, according to multiple reports Friday. Heyward can reportedly opt out of his deal after the third year or the fourth year if he exceeds certain plate appearance threshholds. The club would not comment on or confirm the reports. Heyward, 26, fills a large gap in center field, replacing Dexter Fowler, who is a free agent. In addition, he is an attractive fit at Wrigley Field, where he's batted .311 (28-for-90) with four home runs, five doubles and 13 RBIs in 25 games. He is the second free agent to make the move from the Cardinals to their rivals, the Cubs, joining John Lackey, who signed a two-year deal last week. The Cubs will surrender their first two 2016 Draft picks for signing Lackey and Heyward, who had received and rejected qualifying offers from St. Louis. They should get back one pick since they made Fowler a qualifying offer. Earlier this week at the Winter Meetings, both Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer said they believe this year's class of free agents is much deeper than next year's, so spending-wise, they could fit two offseasons into one. "You have a budget number and that number is going to change," Hoyer said. "[The business side] is always trying to find additional dollars, and whenever they do have additional dollars they let us know." Although Heyward has primarily played right field, scouts say he could easily transition to center at Wrigley. Heyward was considered the top free-agent outfielder on the market, and now the Cubs could have a lineup with Ben Zobrist, Heyward, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Jorge Soler, Miguel Montero and Addison Russell. The Cardinals, Nationals and Angels also were interested in Heyward, who batted .293 in 154 games last season, hitting 13 home runs, 33 doubles and four triples. With his career .353 on-base percentage, he's considered a good fit for the top of the order with another new addition, Zobrist, who signed a four-year contract earlier this week. The Cubs were looking for defense in center to cover the corner outfielders, Schwarber and Soler, and Heyward should perfectly fill that responsibility. He has won three Gold Gloves in the past four seasons, winning two with the Braves and another with the Cardinals. How ready are the Cubs to add Heyward? Russell posted on Twitter that he's willing to give up his uniform No. 22 for Heyward, saying: "Even though I might have to change my number, I'm perfectly okay with that. I just wanna help fly that #W #goodguys." -- Cubs.com Cubs solidifying winning new reality By Mike Bauman Becoming accustomed to the Chicago Cubs being at the head of the class will not be an automatic activity. I mean, anyone less than 107 years old has not had any practice with this situation.

Yet we must all acknowledge that the Cubs emerged from the first half of December as a Major League success story in the category of getting exactly what they needed. Of course, no championships are won in December. But you can get a nice head start on a championship, even before New Year's Eve. And the whole 2015 season was like Spring Training for seeing the Cubs in a new light. There is no chuckling at 97 victories. That was the third-best record in baseball, although it was also the third-best record in the National League Central. You bring in Joe Maddon as manager, and right away you have one shrewd dude on hand, a winning combination of advanced metrics and a genuine human touch. Then you add Jon Lester. Jake Arrieta comes through with the best post-All-Star ERA since the invention of the All-Star Game. And throughout it all, there is this wealth of position-player talent, developing, maybe ahead of schedule, but developing. The Cubs got better over the season, just as Maddon had said they would. They couldn't handle the Cardinals initially, but by October, their NL Division Series meeting, the Cubs were on top. And this was a St. Louis team that had won 100 games. The Cubs stopped being a punchline the minute they hired Maddon. And they became progressively more like a threat than a joke as they developed over the season. But since then, they have only become better, which is tough to do when your baseline of comparison is 97 victories. There was the addition of John Lackey, coming off a fine season with the Cards. At the Winter Meetings, Maddon envisioned how this would go. "You walk into a three-game series," Maddon said, "and the other team calls for your pitching, and you say: 'It's going to be Lester, Arrieta and Lackey.' They don't like that." Then the Cubs get Ben Zobrist to play second and whatever else is needed. Zobrist thrived while being versatile when he played for Maddon with Tampa Bay. He's coming off a big postseason performance as an integral part of the Kansas City Royals' World Series championship. Zobrist said he was drawn by the opportunity to bring a championship to Chicago's North Side. The Cubs have been adding pitching. A particularly useful addition could be Adam Warren, who came from the Yankees in the Starlin Castro trade. Castro's departure opened up a spot for Zobrist. The Cubs are working like a Swiss watch now. Anyway, Warren has demonstrated that he can pitch successfully either in relief or as a starter, and that sort of versatility can be invaluable. And then we get to the daily double, the eight-year, $184 million deal for outfielder Jason Heyward. This was a major addition for the Cubs, but it was also a major loss for the Redbirds. They liked him a lot in his one season in St. Louis. They liked him both professionally and personally. "It's been an honor and a pleasure to get to know him personally," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. But Heyward went to the Cubs. Think about it. Say that in the recent past there was a top-shelf free agent deciding between the Cubs and the Cards. It would have taken him less time than an intentional walk and he wouldn't have been heading toward the North Side. Now, it has become cool to play for the Cubs. The perception is that you can make history. Hey, you can even break history. You can be part of a baseball rebirth, after a century-plus drought.

Of course, other clubs will have something to say about this. The Mets swept the Cubs in the NL Championship Series and the Mets will still have that terrific pitching. Zobrist passed on the Mets to go to the Cubs, but still, the Mets aren't disappearing. And the Cardinals do their best work when people write them off. They should start that best work any minute now. But if you add the first six weeks of the offseason to the 2015 season, what you have is a bright, shining new reality for the Chicago Cubs. They seem to be adjusting to it nicely. The rest of us may require more practice. -- Cubs.com Cubs may move Soler for starting pitcher By Carrie Muskat CHICAGO -- Jason Heyward, John Lackey, Ben Zobrist now are Cubs. Who's next? According to reports, the Cubs are still in the market for another starting pitcher, and may be dangling outfielder Jorge Soler to teams. The Cubs have reportedly had discussions with the Padres regarding Tyson Ross and the Indians about Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar. The No. 1 goal this offseason was to bolster the pitching, and Chicago's rotation did get a boost with Lackey. But general manager Jed Hoyer has repeatedly said they need to be prepared for the worst, and don't feel they have enough depth in the organization. Top pitching prospects such as Duane Underwood and Pierce Johnson are at least one year away. The Cubs did acquire right-hander Adam Warren from the Yankees in the Starlin Castro deal, signed lefty Rex Brothers and need to finalize a deal with Trevor Cahill. They know they were lucky in 2015 as none of their starters missed significant time, and end result was the third-best pitching staff in the National League. Heyward has primarily played right field, and the 26-year-old, who reportedly signed an eight-year, $184 million deal with the Cubs, would stay in right if Soler was dealt. But the Cubs most likely want Heyward to fill the void in center created by Dexter Fowler's departure. Soler, 23, is an attractive chip after batting .262 with 10 home runs and 47 RBIs in 101 games. Both the outfielder and Javier Baez would fit what the Indians are looking for. Carrasco, 28, was 14-12 with a 3.63 ERA in 30 games, and Salazar, 25, was 14-10 with a 3.45 ERA in 30 starts. Salazar struck out 195 over 185 innings. The Padres' Ross, 28, was 10-12 with a 3.26 ERA in 33 starts last season. -- Cubs.com With Heyward, Cubs boast monster lineup By Phil Rogers Go ahead, Kris Bryant. Let's see if you can wipe that smile off your face. Bet you can't do it. You, too, Anthony Rizzo. How about you two, Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester? Or you guys, Kyle Schwarber and Jorge Soler? How long is it going to take you to stop smiling about president of baseball operations Theo Epstein's latest master stroke?

Gold Glove-winning on-base machine Jason Heyward is joining John Lackey in leaving the Cardinals to jump into the Cubs' pursuit of their first World Series championship since 1908. How big of a deal is this? Well, the 26-year-old Heyward compiled a 31.2 WAR through his age-25 season. Only three active players had more at the same point -- Alex Rodriguez, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. It's a big deal. Heyward's getting the biggest contract in club history, but the eight-year, $184 million deal makes sense given the long-term potential of manager Joe Maddon's team and how owner Tom Ricketts has invested in Wrigley Field to awaken a franchise that had been a sleeping giant. There are no guarantees in the Major Leagues, but the Cubs should be a monster team in 2016 and for many years to come. Heyward and the switch-hitting Ben Zobrist, who was signed to a four-year, $56 million deal Tuesday, will bat in front of Rizzo and Bryant, who could combine for 70-plus home runs and 250-plus RBIs. The lineup that has come together over the last year hardly stops there, either. From top to bottom, it should look like this: 1. Heyward, CF 2. Zobrist, 2B 3. Rizzo, 1B 4. Bryant, 3B 5. Schwarber, LF 6. Soler, RF 7. Miguel Montero, C 8. Pitcher's spot 9. Addison Russell, SS This could change between now and Opening Day, of course, but there's no reason that it must. Javier Baez is likely to also find his way into the mix when the designated hitter rule opens another spot for the April 4 opener against the Angels, and with Arrieta as the likely starting pitcher, the Cubs can go 10-for-10 in putting potential All-Stars on the field. How do you follow up a 97-win season? Epstein's answer is by fielding a stronger team. Before Schwarber joined the Cubs for good July 17, they were winning with their pitching more than their lineup. They averaged 3.9 runs in the first half of 2015, which ranked 11th in the NL. But only the Yoenis Cespedes-driven Mets outscored them in the second half, and they're deeper now with Heyward and Zobrist. The Cubs' hitters worked more than their share of deep counts, and at two strikes had contact issues. They led the Major Leagues with 1518 strikeouts, 126 more than any other team. But Zobrist (62 walks, 56 strikeouts) and Heyward were both under-100 strikeout guys, which is going to help a lot. Heyward and Zobrist posted identical .359 on-base percentages last year. For context, only 23 NL qualifiers had .350-plus OBPs last season. The Cubs now have five hitters who did that: Rizzo (.387), Bryant (.369), Zobrist, Heyward and Schwarber (.355). Heyward, only 26, fits Epstein's long-stated aversion to "post-prime'' free agents, even if he will be 33 at the end of the deal. He's being valued more highly than any position player who isn't a true run producer (13 homers, 60 RBIs last season; career highs of 27 homers, 82 RBIs), but his best years as a hitter could very well come in the next few years, riding the Cubs' momentum into annual trips to the postseason. Outside of the Rays' Kevin Kiermaier, he's arguably the second-best defensive outfielder in the Major Leagues, and has played enough center field (most recently against the Cubs in the NL Division Series) to make Epstein and Maddon confident that he'll be a valuable security blanket playing between Schwarber and Soler. Defensive

metrics support the eye test, as well, as he picked up two defensive runs saved in 51 regular-season innings last season, with a ridiculously high UZR/150 of 75.5. Heyward could easily shift back to right field in a year or two if Albert Almora, Billy McKinney or recently signed Cuban Eddy Julio Martinez pushed their way into the center-field picture. Baez could become at least a part-time option if he learns the position. Maddon will have a lot of fun being creative with his lineups. He could start six of eight left-handed hitters against right-handers (including Chris Coghlan in right) and six of eight right-handed hitters against lefties (with Baez playing second and Zobrist moving to left) on a regular basis. It had to be a squeeze to fit Heyward's $23 million AAV into the 2016 payroll. But as Starlin Castro was traded to the Yankees to provide room for Zobrist, a salary or two could be moved to make things more comfortable. Jason Hammel seems the most vulnerable, as Epstein has lined up four veterans who could replace him as the fifth starter (Adam Warren, Travis Wood, Trevor Cahill and Clayton Richard). While Heyward's contract includes an opt-out clause that could shorten it to three years, the Cubs were comfortable going eight years because they project an increase in resources by 2020. They're likely to launch their own television network when their contract with Comcast expires, and what better to sell than a team that knows its way to the World Series. Both Heyward and Zobrist turned down bigger deals elsewhere to join the Cubs. That speaks to how Epstein and Maddon have made the franchise a destination for players. Epstein had a plan and stuck to it through some tough times. It was easy to see what he was trying to build but nobody saw this monster coming together so quickly. When does Spring Training start? -- Cubs.com Center stage: Precedent for Heyward's move to CF By AJ Cassavell For all intents and purposes, Jason Heyward is a corner outfielder. Over his first six big league seasons, 97 percent of his defensive innings have come as a right fielder. Thing is, his new team, the Cubs, do not need a corner outfielder. They need a center fielder. And chances are, they're going to ask Heyward to be that guy. It's the second consecutive offseason in which a team has made a big splash by acquiring a corner outfielder with the intention of moving him to center. This situation, however, bears little resemblance to the Padres' acquisition of Wil Myers a year ago. Heyward is an elite defender in right field and has shown flashes of the same in center. It's an admittedly small sample size, but Heyward sits around plus-3 in defensive runs saved and ultimate zone rating as a center fielder since 2013. For reference, those numbers would have put him right around Mike Trout and Juan Lagares last season -- and ahead of Andrew McCutchen and Joc Pederson. Perhaps the most telling statistic for the upcoming transition is Heyward's range rating, which was 16.2 last season according to Fangraphs. That ranked second among all outfielders -- even more impressive when you consider that it's easier to rack up range numbers in center where there's more ground to cover. (Among the top 10 in the category, only Ender Inciarte was not primarily a center fielder.) Still, things are going to be different for Heyward in Chicago. In right field, he's arguably the best defender in baseball. In center field, he's something of a question mark.

Few people expect Heyward to struggle in center -- and he'll be helped by Wrigley's smaller outfield dimensions. But it's not every day that a corner outfielder is asked to transition to center. They're two very different positions. So what about precedent? Have there been success stories in the recent past? You bet. Let's take a look: Ichiro Suzuki: In the past decade, no outfielder has a higher UZR than Heyward (96.2). Ichiro is second at 83.4. Much like Heyward, Ichiro spent the first six seasons of his career ensconced in right field (while some combination of Mike Cameron, Randy Winn and Jeremy Reed played center). Then, with Jose Guillen and Raul Ibanez at the corners in 2007, the M's asked Ichiro to move to center, and he did so almost flawlessly. In what amounted to two full seasons -- he began playing there regularly during the second half of '06 and moved back to right in the second half of '08 -- Ichiro recorded a UZR of 10.8. He won three Gold Gloves. Gerardo Parra: Parra -- an elite defender, who was on Heyward's level not very long ago -- was never really given the chance to thrive in center like Ichiro was (and like Heyward will). He won a Gold Glove as a corner outfielder in 2011, then bounced around the outfield (while playing primarily center) over the next two seasons. In those two season's Parra's defensive metrics in center field were far superior to those same metrics for the rest of his career. What can we glean from that? Well, maybe it's just easier to excel in center field when you're playing there every day. Alex Rios: Rios began his career almost exclusively a right fielder, but after three seasons there, the Blue Jays began ease him into center field. Then, in 2009, he was selected off waivers by the White Sox and handed the keys to center. For two seasons, Rios was solid, posting above average defensive metrics. Then, in 2011, he hit a wall -- understandably. Center field is one of the toughest positions in baseball, and there aren't many 30-year-olds up to the task. His range plummeted and his UZR and DRS each dipped below -8. Shane Victorino: Victorino's case is slightly different, because he came up through the Minor Leagues as a center fielder. But he played primarily corner outfield spots in his first two seasons as a regular, with Aaron Rowand in the middle. Then, in 2008, Victorino was given the keys to center and saved 10 runs en route to his first Gold Glove Award. Statistically, he would never repeat that '08 season, but Victorino played some solid center field and won two more Gold Gloves before hitting a wall at age 30. (Sound familiar?) Victorino would then move back to right field, where he once again established himself as elite defensively. Heyward: So what have we learned here? Well, for one, there's plenty of precedent for Heyward to have success in center. These all seem like very apt comparisons. All four were corner outfielders with a ton of range and athleticism before making the move. Plus, three of them (excluding Ichiro) made the switch in their mid-20s. The Cubs clearly can't stick Heyward in center for the duration of his eight-year deal. But given his elite defensive skillset -- and the fact that he'll be able to hone that skillset as an everyday center fielder -- Heyward should be a perfectly viable option for the next three years or so. --