After a day to cool off about this I think it was lucky for the cardinals that he chose chi, strictly from a money standpoint. It sounds like he turned down even more money from stl. I think that would have handicapped us slightly. Obviously, I would love to have Jhey manning rf/cf for the next 6-8 years, and he does so many good things on offense whether it's getting on base, or taking extra bases, but for 23M+ he doesn't fill our biggest need. What we really need is power and run production, and Heyward just doesn't do that we'll enough to be worth that kind of money for our club. IMO it's a bad contract for the cubs to pay him that much, but if they have the money to spend (and they do) then i don't think it really matters, because he will be a great player and will do other things to help them win besides driving in runs. Where I think this contract may hurt them is when it comes time to pay Rizzo and Bryant. If heyward is worth 23M then what are they going to have to pay them?
As for the cardinals, if they can pry Gordon away from KC and get a starting pitcher I think we will have done a good job. Gordon should come cheaper than heyward, is a lefty, and seems to have more power as well as great defense. He also won't require quite as long of a contract which is right up Mo's alley.
There are some arms availiable yet too, but not getting price hurt. It sounds like he woke up that morning planning to accept the cards offer until Boston swooped in with their offer. I really liked Zimmerman too, and think he could have got more money from a better club if he had waited for price and greinke to sign first.
Other options out there for a bat that provide power are Davis, and Upton, luckily we have some versatility to be able to move some current players around on defense so we aren't locked into having to sign a player at one certain position. There are also guys out there on the trade market, like Cargo and Frazier, but I don't know if we have/are willing to give up prospects for them, but will be interesting to see what happens.
One thing I know is we aren't done making moves. Mo isn't just going to sit on his hands and watch chicago take this division away (on paper)
Oh yeah, one more thing.... JONATHAN BROXTON *@\#!&@*!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!