Jason Heyward had 184 million rather obvious reasons to choose the Chicago Cubs during his free-agent courting process. But there was another reason the Cubs appealed to Heyward more than the St. Louis Cardinals — the Cubs' youth.
The Cubs introduced Heyward to the media Tuesday, making official his eight-year contract worth $184 million. He smiled and talked about how he'd play center field if that's what the team needs. He talked about how wants to win with the Cubs and the front-office folks talked about how he's a perfect fit. You know, the usual introductory press conference stuff.
"I didn't take the highest offer," Heyward told reporters. "For me, a winning attitude and culture and the fact that this group is such a young group and I could grow myself with it. And to be 26 years old and look throughout my, hopefully, eight years here that I was able to grow up with a group of guys and make them family and to be able to cherish that the rest of the way without feeling I had to restart."
On the open market, Heyward was an alluring option for many teams, but the Cubs and Cardinals emerged as his most likely destinations. That pit two bitter rivals and division foes against each other for one of the top players on the market. When Heyward picked the Cubs, many Cardinals fans were enraged. And now, when they hear more about one of Heyward's reasons, they'll probably have a few things to say too.
Heyward told reporters after the press conference that he liked the youth of the Cubs, while saying the Cardinals were "changing" and some of their key players were getting older. Here's a rundown, per ESPN Chicago's Jesse Rogers:
 | @ESPNChiCubs | |
Heyward: "St. Louis is always going to be a great organization and I don’t think anyone would ever be surprised if they win a WS any year."
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| @ESPNChiCubs | |
But...“Being 26 years old and knowing that my contract would put me in any clubhouse for longer than most people there....
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| @ESPNChiCubs | |
...You have to look at age, how fast the team is changing and how soon those changes will come about."
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| @ESPNChiCubs | |
Heyward then reeled off the players that are retiring soonish or gone: Yadier, Holliday, Wainwright, Jay, Cruz etc.
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While it's true that Adam Wainwright, Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina aren't exactly young pups anymore, the Cardinals do have plenty of young players, and a farm system that constantly pipes in someone whenever the 25-man roster has a need. On that list: Michael Wacha, Carlos Martinez, Randal Grichuk, Stephen Piscotty and Kolten Wong, all of whom are younger than Heyward.
That list may not be as exciting as Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Kyle Schwarber and Jorge Soler in Chicago, but neither teams figures to turn into the Philadelphia Phillies anytime soon.
Nonetheless, this has already kicked up the trash talk a notch:
 | @buffa82 | |
When Matt Holliday hits a laser beam line drive over Jason Heyward's head in 2016, I hope he screams "NOT DONE YET". #STLCards
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Expect more of that when the Cubs and Cardinals actually start playing baseball this spring.
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