St. Louis Cardinals: Jason Heyward Crucial for Future

Jason Heyward got off to a rough start in his St. Louis Cardinal‘s career, as he hit .217 with just two home runs and four RBIs in April. It seemed set in stone that when his contract ran out at the end of this year, the J-Hey Kid would be a free agent.

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However, since that abysmal month, Jason Heyward has been a mainstay for the St. Louis Cardinals and it has come to the point where they need to make him a part of their future.

Heyward has absolutely turned his season around. In the three months since April, he has raised his average to a stern .286 with 9 home runs and 37 RBIs. He has even added 18 stolen bases to boot. Also keep in mind that the guy is a fantastic fielder.

The Cardinals acquired Heyward in a deal with the Atlanta Braves that sent Shelby Miller over to the Tomahawkers. Miller has been incredibly solid, but his fantastic start to the season has not been so easy to maintain. While he made the trade look incredibly lopsided in April, Heyward has since reminded Atlanta of how good he actually is.

Heyward, being a native Georgian, was expected to be a superstar in Atlanta, but that quickly changed to the young man wanting a one way ticket out due due to the pressure the team placed on him to sign a new contract.

When you start your career at the age of 20, you have a lot of time to adapt to the Major Leagues. It took Jason Heyward quite some time to adapt but the St. Louis Cardinals managed to bring out the best in him like they tend to do with most other people.

But it is something else about the St. Louis Cardinals that has helped him settle in so well. Heyward said that St. Louis is “the kind of place you talk about being as a player” and that if he had remained in Atlanta, the pressure to sign an extension would have been overbearing. For the St. Louis Cardinals, all they have been asking him is if he likes it (via stltoday.com).

The St. Louis Cardinals may therefore be securing a talented player for the future by not talking about securing him for the future. KSDK points out that the time to sign Jason Heyward is now, but the team is being smart in adhering to the players wishes. In the mean time, they will continue to sit back and enjoy seeing Heyward’s OBP raise every single month.

The St. Louis Cardinals do need to ink the Georgia native to a new contract, but they need to do it with caution, which it looks like is already the strategy. Another byproduct of Heyward starting his career at the age of 20 is that here he is, six years later and he is still only 26 years old (how about that math?).

If the St. Louis Cardinals can secure Jason Heyward, then their outfield is set for the next decade. Even with Matt Holliday out, the Cards are rocking number-two-overall-prospect Stephen Piscotty in left, Randal Grichuk in center and Heyward in right. Those three are 24, 23 and 26 respectively. All three are hitting at least .286 and Heyward and Grichuk both have excellent power and Piscotti has adequate power as well.

Matt Holliday is not going to be around forever, but the St. Louis Cardinals can rest assured that when he does move on, they are incredibly well-covered with Peter Bourjos providing an excellent option as a fourth outfielder.

Jason Heyward should be one of the St. Louis Cardinal’s top priorities. Even if they have to wait until the bitter end, signing Jason Heyward secures a superb talent that had all the potential in the world at the age of 20. That kind of stuff does not just go away.

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