MESA, Ariz. -- Jason Heyward has never been a typical baseball superstar. He has never hit .300; his lifetime batting average is .262. He has never hit 30 home runs in a season and only once hit even 20. He has never stolen 25 bases in a season and never come particularly close to 100 RBIs or 100 runs scored. He has never finished Top 10 in the MVP balloting. He has only made one All-Star team -- during his rookie season almost seven years ago.
And yet, before the 2016 season, the Chicago Cubs gave Jason Heyward the second-largest deal ever given to an outfielder (behind only slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who couldn't be more different from Heyward as a player).