Jason Heyward is a different kind of elite baseball player.
His traditional statistics are not the stuff of legend. He doesn’t bang balls off of scoreboards, and he might never be the all-world run producer traditionalists fawn over. His name has never been instantly recognizable by the casual sports fan, and his jersey might never crack the top five in Major League Baseball’s sales rankings.
Jason Heyward is not that kind of superstar. He’s built in the mold of the Kansas City Royals, a single-player embodiment of athleticism, instincts and non-traditional production. Simply put, he does what he does well so incredibly well that he helps his teams win without jaw-dropping home run, RBI or slugging-type numbers.
As of Saturday, he will be a free agent at 26 years old in line for the kind of fat contract typically reserved for the 40-homer, 100-RBI types. And there is a great chance Jason Heyward will be worth every single cent.
When Heyward broke into the big leagues, he did so with the lofty expectations of being the Atlanta Braves’ next franchise pillar, a right fielder with a bazooka arm, a stick-em glove and light-tower power while also capable of snatching 20-30 bases a season. He was that kind of all-around threat, but as the Braves sank into National League obscurity, Heyward became expendable.
Last November, the Braves traded Heyward to the St. Louis Cardinals as he entered his contract year. At that time, he had proven to be a valuable player, posting two six-win seasons by way of Baseball-Reference.com’s module, but he hit more than 18 home runs only once, drove in more than 75 runs only once and posted an OPS higher than .800 just twice in his first five seasons.
Those are reasons why Heyward was one of the most polarizing players in baseball while with Atlanta. Depending on which lens one viewed him through, he was either a potential MVP or a bust.
Despite that, he went to St. Louis with quantifiable value and was just what the club needed as it dealt with injuries across its roster in 2015.
Heyward hit 13 home runs and drove in 60 runs, but his .293/.359/.439 slash line and 116 OPS+ was enough offense. Teamed with his great defense and outstanding baserunning, Heyward ended up finishing in the National League’s top 10 in Baseball-Reference.com WAR and FanGraphs WAR.
Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak spoke about Heyward at his end-of-season press conference last month, per Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.
He was as advertised. On a personal level, he’s just a genuinely nice person. I think he’s one of those guys who could really fit in anywhere. He’s a great teammate and very likable. When you think about bringing players into an organization, there is always that risk. He far exceeded that.
Just because Heyward’s power numbers are not elite does not mean he won’t appear atop leaderboards. Since his major league debut, he has easily—easily—been the best defensive outfielder in the game over the last six seasons.
Alex Gordon, a career Royal and current free agent with similar attributes as Heyward, is considered an elite outfield defender, and Heyward demolishes him in all the meaningful defensive metrics. He is that good.
He is also a great baserunner despite getting picked off in Game 4 of the National League Division Series. According to FanGraphs’ BsR statistic, which is a catch-all for baserunning, Heyward was fifth in the majors last year, and since 2012, he ranks 12th in the majors.
Those numbers are real, and they will hold massive weight in contract negotiations this winter. So will his age.
At 26—he will be 27 on Aug. 9 next year—Heyward is the rare player to hit free agency in his mid-20s. That means his agent, Victor Menocal, can realistically argue to suitors that his client’s best seasons are still within the life of whatever deal he strikes before next season. This is not a 30-year-old whose legs and arm will decline in the next couple of years.
Heyward is a player who could actually get better by the time his next deal is halfway through. That also means he might flash more power to go with his defense and baserunning, and it’s not like he’s never shown pop in the past. He hit 27 home runs in 2012, so the power is in him.
There is no player on the market quite like Heyward this offseason, and in an age of advanced metrics, valuing and emphasis on non-traditional stats, he stands to rake in a deal that could top $200 million. That for a player who does not average 20 home runs a season.
Jason Heyward is a different kind of elite baseball player. The market knows it, and soon his salary will prove that to be true.
All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.
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