Jason Heyward has reportedly agreed to sign with the Chicago Cubs as a free agent, picking the Cubs over the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. The Cubs have already signed Ben Zobrist this offseason and the team is reportedly considering more moves, including getting another starting pitcher. UPDATE.
The MLB winter meetings are ending and some teams have made significant moves, including the Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. Other moves could be coming soon, as Jason Heyward and Justin Upton could be close to signing, while Aroldis Chapman is generating trade interest despite an MLB investigation.
UPDATE: Reports have Jason Heyward signing with the Chicago Cubs. Check here for more on the deal.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have made some significant upgrades with the signing of Zack Greinke and the trade for Shelby Miller. Greinke opted to sign with the Diamondbacks over the Dodgers and Giants, while the team gave up some top prospects to get Miller. The team gave up number one overall draft pick Dansby Swanson to get Miller and while that was a tough deal to make, the front office said they felt Miller was worth making the move for.
The Diamondbacks have upgraded and look like contenders in the NL West, while the Dodgers and Giants both made moves to get starting pitchers. The Giants signed Jeff Samardzija in free agency, while the Dodgers added Hisashi Iwakuma on a contract. The Dodgers have been connected to Aroldis Chapman in trade talks and while a deal reportedly was agreed on, LA has slowed things down with Chapman under investigation by the MLB. The team could continue to look at a deal, but right now the trade has not been completed.
Heyward is reportedly close to signing a deal and teams like the Nationals, Angels and Cubs have been connected to the Cardinals outfielder. St. Louis also could step up to try and keep Heyward. Joel Sherman at the NY Post reports that the Nationals are in on Heyward, while Jon Morosi at Fox Sports reports that the Cubs have "remained aggressive" in looking at Heyward. The Cubs signed Ben Zobrist and that set the team up to trade Starlin Castro to the Yankees and now the team could add more.
The Yankees gave up Adam Warren and Brendan Ryan in the deal for Castro and the team felt it was worth it since second base has been a weak position for the team. Castro is still young and now he will get the chance to start ahead of Rob Refsnyder and Dustin Ackley. Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that the team is looking to make more moves to add pitching and the team could consider trades with Andrew Miller and Brett Gardner.
Some other moves at the meetings included the Athletics trading Brett Lawrie to the White Sox, the Mariners trading for Adam Lind from the Brewers and the Cardinals bringing back Jonathan Broxton. The Angels also reportedly traded for Yunel Escobar from the Nationals.