Chicago Cubs finally part ways with Jason Heyward
By Kevin Henry
Having not played in a game for the Chicago Cubs since June 24 because of right knee inflammation, the Cubs have come up with a plan to part ways with Jason Heyward.
Chicago Cubs announce that Jason Heyward will not play again for the team over the course of the remainder of his contract, which extends through the 2023 season
According to Jed Hoyer, the general manager for the Chicago Cubs, the franchise will release Heyward from the final year of his $184 million contract signed in the offseason before the 2016 campaign. Additionally, Heyward will not play the rest of this season but will around the Cubs as an inactive player. The Cubs keeping Heyward as a part of the team is a tip of the cap to this leadership and value in the clubhouse.
The Cubs will reportedly pay Heyward $22 million for next season, even though he will not be with the team.
This is Heyward’s 13th MLB season and his seventh as a member of the Cubs. Selected 14th overall by the Atlanta Braves in the 2007 MLB draft, Heyward made his MLB debut with the Braves on April 5, 2010, and went on to earn All-Star Game honors that season, as well as finishing second in the National League Rookie of the Year competition behind Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants.
Heyward earned a pair of Gold Gloves in Atlanta before leaving for the St. Louis Cardinals before the 2015 season. He earned another Gold Glove there before signing a lucrative deal with the division rival Cubs the following year.
While in Chicago, Heyward was a part of the 2016 World Series-winning Cubs team, but went just 6-for-48 in the postseason run, including 3-for-20 in the Fall Classic against Cleveland.
In 744 games with the Cubs covering 2,836 plate appearances, the 32-year-old Heyward posted a combined slash line of .245/.323/.377 with 62 homers and 289 RBI. This season, in 48 games (151 plate appearances), Heyward’s slash line was a paltry .204/.278/.277 with one homer and 10 RBI.
Once Heyward is healthy, he will likely latch on with another team next season. However, his time as a member of Chicago Cubs seems to have come to an official end.