Agreeing with Heyward

Mike Matheny disagrees with the reason Jason Heyward left the the Cardinals:

While recently departed Jason Heyward was high in his praise of the Cardinals’ organization as he forsook it to sign with the Chicago Cubs for eight years and $184 million, he made it clear that he was less comfortable with the Cardinals’ core in the long-term than he was with the Cubs. Chicago has a younger brand in position-player stars such as Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Addison Russell.

The Cardinals’ well-over-30 core of Yadier Molina, Matt Holliday and Adam Wainwright isn’t going to be around that much longer, Heyward said.

Matheny:

“I see where he’s coming from. I mean, look at what Chicago’s done. It’s very unique in this game — to have that many impact players at that young age. And he’s a young player. But I can’t say I’m in any kind of agreement with that (Chicago) core being better than any kind of core that we have.

“That veteran group (that the Cardinals have) also helps drive what the younger group turns into.”

I agree with Heyward. On the Cubs, Heyward is the veteran presence, and he’s in the middle of his prime years. As he ages, the Cubs are going to get better behind him. On the Cardinals, Heyward would need to depend on the St. Louis front office keeping the pipeline of talent flowing. They are excellent at that, between drafting great pitchers and bringing up position players in their primes to fill holes. Heyward is choosing between a solid young team that should develop into a great one, and the hope that an organization keep drafting well and developing players well. With the Cardinals history of winning, they don’t get high draft picks, so that job gets tougher. The Cubs right now, are the team of the near future.

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