Interesting SI article on Heyward

[Angelsjunky]

"A fascinating case."

 

The long and short of it is that the writer interviewed a bunch of execs anonymously, and the vast majority really like Heyward but don't see him as an elite player.

 

I love the idea of having Heyward, but the article makes me question it a bit. Below are Fangraphs' crowd-sourcing predictions, with years and total contract. I've added in the age range of the different contracts.

 

Heyward: 8/$184MM (26-33)

Cespedes: 6/$132MM (30-35)

Upton: 6/$120MM (28-33)

Gordon: 5/$90MM (32-36)

Parra: 3/$24MM (28-30)

 

If those are what the contracts will actually be, I must say that I'd probably either go with Upton or the budget route and sign Parra.

[laagamer]

Heyward all day

[greginpsca]

If we get nobody on that list, i would go Revere. Even before Parra.

[Docwaukee]

"A fascinating case."

 

The long and short of it is that the writer interviewed a bunch of execs anonymously, and the vast majority really like Heyward but don't see him as an elite player.

 

I love the idea of having Heyward, but the article makes me question it a bit. Below are Fangraphs' crowd-sourcing predictions, with years and total contract. I've added in the age range of the different contracts.

 

Heyward: 8/$184MM (26-33)

Cespedes: 6/$132MM (30-35)

Upton: 6/$120MM (28-33)

Gordon: 5/$90MM (32-36)

Parra: 3/$24MM (28-30)

 

If those are what the contracts will actually be, I must say that I'd probably either go with Upton or the budget route and sign Parra.

 

 

Frankly, at that money, he's not being paid as an elite player.  Just a solid one that happened to hit free agency at a much younger age than most solid players do.  A truly elite position player to hit free agency before his 26yo season would be getting somewhere in the range of 300mil.  Generational players such as Trout and potentially Harper would be near 400mil.  

[ten ocho recon scout]

"A fascinating case."

The long and short of it is that the writer interviewed a bunch of execs anonymously, and the vast majority really like Heyward but don't see him as an elite player.

I love the idea of having Heyward, but the article makes me question it a bit. Below are Fangraphs' crowd-sourcing predictions, with years and total contract. I've added in the age range of the different contracts.

Heyward: 8/$184MM (26-33)

Cespedes: 6/$132MM (30-35)

Upton: 6/$120MM (28-33)

Gordon: 5/$90MM (32-36)

Parra: 3/$24MM (28-30)

If those are what the contracts will actually be, I must say that I'd probably either go with Upton or the budget route and sign Parra.

if that were real, the actual options, its upton all day

[Jim]

"A fascinating case."

The long and short of it is that the writer interviewed a bunch of execs anonymously, and the vast majority really like Heyward but don't see him as an elite player.

I love the idea of having Heyward, but the article makes me question it a bit. Below are Fangraphs' crowd-sourcing predictions, with years and total contract. I've added in the age range of the different contracts.

Heyward: 8/$184MM (26-33)

Cespedes: 6/$132MM (30-35)

Upton: 6/$120MM (28-33)

Gordon: 5/$90MM (32-36)

Parra: 3/$24MM (28-30)

If those are what the contracts will actually be, I must say that I'd probably either go with Upton or the budget route and sign Parra.

I completely agree with that article. However, that won't stop some team from coming out and paying more for his services than is necessary. Yet again driving up the market. If we do end up getting him, which I don't think we will, I hope it's for a reasonable price.

[HBMike]

It's between Angels, Cubs and Card.

[Jim]

if that were real, the actual options, its upton all day

I agree. If it came down to those numbers, I'd take Upton over the rest of the field listed there.

[Jim]

It's between Angels, Cubs and Card.

How do you know this for sure?

[Glen]

On the plus side, if we sign Heyward to 10 years then AO will be able to complain about signing ex-CardinalS to 10-year contracts and starry-eyed Arte redux.

[Jim]

I wish that worked for me

[Stradling]

On the plus side, if we sign Heyward to 10 years then AO will be able to complain about signing ex-CardinalS to 10-year contracts and starry-eyed Arte redux.

I hardly see that as a plus

[Rico]

Cespedes gets more than Upton?

 

The biggest complaint I see from the managers is that Hayward is not a 3 or 4 hitter.  He is more like a really great 2 hitter.  Well, guess what.  We have 3 and 4 covered, and could really use a great 2 hitter.

[Angelsjunky]

Cespedes gets more than Upton?

 

The biggest complaint I see from the managers is that Hayward is not a 3 or 4 hitter.  He is more like a really great 2 hitter.  Well, guess what.  We have 3 and 4 covered, and could really use a great 2 hitter.

 

Not quite. The complaint is that he's not a really great hitter, period. He's a good one, maybe a very good one, but not a great one. He's basically like Torii Hunter, but with Hunter's prime defense - that makes him a very good player and a star, but not a superstar.

 

Also, his hitting has been overall very consistent. His wRC+ over the last four years: 121, 120, 110, 121.

 

So here's here's the thing. You sign Heyward not expecting a step forward with the bat. You have to assume more of the same, with maybe slight fluctuation - but basically a 120 wRC+ hitter with excellent defense that will gradually decline. He's a very nice player to have, but I think the point of the article is that the consensus is that he's more of complementary star or borderline star like Hunter.

 

By the way, his 118 wRC+ over the last four years (same as his career) is 65th among all major leaguers. By WAR he's 7th - so you can see that most of his value is his defense.