I don't believe it's anything close to the truth. These are complicated contracts and we have no idea what the actual offers were. One thing is for certain- it's a rare, rare guy who takes a lower offer. I doubt Heyward is that rarity.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Yeah, the took less money thing seems like useless speculation.

I thought he has a right to walk after 3 years with the Cub contract. That's why the contract was front loaded.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

The opt out clause worked out pretty well for Zack Grienke.

I don't agree. Many people would take 5%-7% less money if the other factors that they're looking for are in place. Especially when the 7% less still is $185M, and they're already a multi-millionaire.

For instance, who among wouldn't prefer to live........hell, anywhere.......except St. Louis.

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that's an easy one. because that concept validates this current cubs team as "something special going on" and it validates cubs fans' thoughts that they're the sexiest thing going on in baseball so people are literally going to give up millions of dollars JUST... to be a part of this "cub thing" going out and having parties of the century every year for a 5-10 year span [because of various 100yr anniversaries]

see right now cubs fans really wanna believe that they're something special that transcends merely being a really/good team that has a boatload of $$$ to throw around to complement their core of high draft picks. they wanna have some sort of "it"-team status that makes them the most amazingly awesome once-in-a-lifetime-HELLYEAH team/org in professional sports (not just baseball) --- so if you can perpetuate some myth that these 2015+ cubs are so amazing that all of baseball is literally fighting amongst themselves to give up $$$millions$$$ just to come here and be a part of the magic that is this cubs team, well then that's a whole lot better than saying they're basically good-major-market-team-X that's simply splashing the cash after hitting on a few high draft picks.

in cricket there's a saying that goes "it's more than just cricket" and i'd say that cubs fans want that to be the case with these 2015+ cubs. they dont wanna be just another good looking chick.... they wanna be the fucking prom queen!

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i can almost guarantee that the cubs were the only team to offer the guy *TWO* opt-outs after 3/4 years in order to set up a win/win/win/WIN situation for heyward. not only did the cubs likely give him the highest AAV in the contract, but by being willing to let him walk after 3/4 years and thus essentially give him a 4/5 year ~85/110mil insurance policy after those first 3/4 years, they likely gave jay-hey everything he could have wanted and thensome.... plus he gets to be the highly marketable african american star on an Elmhurst-Steve-Approved "white" team who can go sell lots of jerseys in chiraq to ppl down there who wanna come out of the closet as cubs fans over the next few years.

there's no way in hell he doesn't opt out twice and end up doing 8yrs here, as he'd legitimately have to be broken and/or so horrible he can't swing a deal worth over 110mil in order to stay with the cubs. now if we find out that he doesnt opt out after 3 years when he has another 8yr/250mil deal on the table THEN we can talk about taking less money to stay here in chicago because who in their right mind would leave the back-to-back(-to-back?) world champions to go take more $$$ to lose to the cubs?

we're talking something like 10 championships in 15 years here so i mean, yeah, we're going to find out who wants to WIN and who wants to GET PAID over the next ~10+ years because it's going to be patently obvious that players who truly want to WIN have only one destination: your 2015+ chicago cubs!

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I like your doom avatar.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Why should I believe that all these players are champing at the bit to win the World Series with the Cubs? Winning the Stanley Cup with the Toronto Maple Leafs would be just as immortalizing -- if not more, given the Maple Leafs' place in Canada relative to the Cubs' in the United States -- and yet we've seen year after year after year that valuable free agents would rather be injected with the Ebola virus than sign with Toronto because they don't want to be held accountable for their performance. (They also don't want to pay that high Ontario income tax and hear the wives they cheat on bitch about the snow.)

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There is a gigantic flaw in your logic here.


It's called "Canada".

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So the Cards/Cubs was a rivalry when the Cards were winning making the playoffs these last five years or so while I Cubs have been tanking, but now that both teams are clearly going to be playoff contenders it's one sided?

Dolt.

Whoah. First, it goes way farther back than 5 years.

This past season......if we were talking about "playoff contenders", then I guess the Cubs > Cards, right?

Now, look what has happened since then. I get it, the Cards, more than any other team seem to produce guys that just fill in for injuries and succeed, but.......I mean, man, just look what has happened the last 12 months

The scales have tipped this past year or two, no?

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I think you're missing the point I'm trying to make.

I'm not saying the Cubs aren't in a better position to win now than the Cards are, because they absolutely are and anyone who thinks otherwise is either an idiot or is really banking on that whole "Cards just find a way to win" logic. Lackey and Heyward moving make Chicago better and make St. Louis worse. No question.

The problem is this guy is saying the rivalry has "ratcheted down" after these moves, which is hilarious considering we just experienced an extended period where one team was perennially making the playoffs while the other was finishing at the bottom of the division.

If he honestly thinks the Cards/Cubs rivalry is going to be less intense over the next five years than it was the previous five years he must know something the rest of us don't.

Ah, gotcha. Yeah I misunderstood.

If anything...this sucker is gonna get ramped up the next couple years. I can't wait!
We aren't the cuddly, friendly "rivals" up north anymore.
Shit is about to get real.

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Right on.

The playoff series this year was fun and all (obviously a hell of a lot more fun for you) but I'm more excited about the next couple seasons, having every single one of those games in the regular season matter that much more.

Yeah buddy. I can't wait.
The Cards can't be happy with how this offseason has gone so far.....I think they have a move or two left in them.

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This is even worse than your Hawks thoughts. Wow.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

something something "big fish in a small pond"

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

The problem with this spin- and that's exactly what it is- is that Fowler was anything but a "weakness". He was on base constantly when the Cubs got really good in the second half.

And if Jason Heyward is really one of the ten best players in baseball, it's no wonder why watching television has become the more popular sport.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Stick with Hockey

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Heyward is not a top 10 in mlb, and I'm not even counting pitchers.

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He wouldn't be a top ten player if he didn't sign with the Cubs.

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Right. He signed with the Cubs and they started making his HOF plaque.

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Elections have consequences.

I have no clue who Will Leitch is and yes Heyward's WAR is top 10 but he is not a top 10 player.

As to Fowler, yes he had a big 2nd half but he is not a difference maker in CF defensively and his OBP and runs scored should be met or exceeded by whomever bats lead off (Zobrist, Heyward or a new CF or a combo thereof).

I think the major benefit here with Heyward is he is a winning player who will upgrade the defense, is a high IQ player (like Zobrist), a good base runner, it hypothetically weakens STL etc.

The next major decision (which may not be resolved until mid season but probably by the start of the season) is Soler and CF.

Soler is a wildcard, could be a major stud or could be an oft injured, defensively challenged guy his whole career.

So let's see what happens next. Next year's FA class is weak so they are betting heavy on Heyward's defense, OBP and the fact that come October he is not a strikeout machine like a lot of their guys were against the Mets, so him and Zobrist are more apt to get on base as opposed to looking to bash balls over the scoreboard.

The goal now is to win it all and they pushed a lot of chips in with the Heyward signing but this is not their last move.

What I do like a lot of are the 2 opt outs. It gives Heyward incentive to produce in the first 3/4 years and then cash in again. Yes if he busts then they are stuck with a guy with an AAV of 23M for 8 years who is good/great on D but only worth half that.

Let's see what their next move is.

Heyward is essentially an extension to Fowler with a lessened risk of Heyward falling apart due to age than Fowler. Not a bad thing because Fowler was pretty good for the Cubs in 15.

Fowler had a good/very good 2nd half but was not a difference maker defensively and K'd quite a bit.

I would have no problem if they traded Soler for a #3 cost controlled SP then got a superior defensive CF to augment the pitching staff.

They have plenty of boppers. I want lock down defense in CF at worst.

I don't know it you saw what the Dbacks gave up for Shelby Miller, but it costs a lot more than Soler to get a cost-controlled #3.

That is not the market. That was LaRussa mortgaging the future.

That is why everything is in a holding pattern throughout baseball.

Cubs still engaged with TB, CLEV, SD, ATL and others.

Since it was asked ...

"William F. Leitch (born October 10, 1975 in Mattoon, Illinois) is a writer and the founding editor of the Gawker Media sports blog Deadspin. Leitch is a senior editor at Sports on Earth, a contributing editor at New York magazine, a contributor to The New York Times, GQ, Fast Company, and Slate, and has published four books ..."

Also, he's an avowed Cardinals fan, as one could tell from the opening words from his slightly overwrought but otherwise more or less fine screed.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George