St. Louis Cardinals Hopes for the Offseason: Jason Heyward

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Jason Heyward becoming a St. Louis Cardinal this off-season seems quite surreal.

Heyward and Jordan Walden came to the Cardinals via a trade of Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins. That trade wouldn’t even be remotely feasible had Oscar Taveras not tragically passed away in a car accident in October.

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So like many Cardinals fans, I’m happy he is with the Cardinals, I’m just not happy with how it came to happen. It stinks. But life does sometimes.

Heyward comes to the Cardinals with hopes of finding his groove once more. I think he will. Many a traded-to-the-Cardinals guy has boasted an improvement in performance while wearing the Birds on the Bat. Last season, Heyward had a .271/.351/.384 line in 149 games. He had 11 homers, 26 doubles, 58 RBI and stole 20 bases. And this was considered a down year for him.

So, here are my hopes for Heyward this offseason.

* Be Prepared For a Fanbase That Will Adore You. I’m sure the Atlanta Braves fan base loved them some Jason Heyward. I know the St. Louis Cardinal fan base will love them some Jason Heyward. He will get just a taste of it next month at Winter Warm-Up in Downtown St. Louis. And Spring Training in Jupiter? And Opening Day in St. Louis? … Oh. I’m excited!

* Remember Why You Are Here. The fan base lost a young star with so much potential. Cardinals fans will carry this with them for years to come. We want you to succeed, but the fans will remember who should be playing right field. It’s sad. But quite true.

* Play So Well That You’ll Be Here For Years To Come Because YOU and THE TEAM Want That. ‘That’s probably enough said … but, if you play well Jason I know the team, the fans, the organization will love you and you in turn will return that love. If that all happens and you are happy with the Cardinals, I’m sure the team will reward you well. I want to say that. I’m sure YOU want to see that happen, as well.

* We’ve had some Right Field concerns over the past couple of seasons. Play your position to your Gold Glove caliber capabilities and make it no contest who is the starting right fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals.

 * Be Prepared To Have A Lot Of Fun. St. Louis loves their Cardinals. You will love St. Louis and Cardinal Nation. Boom!