Heyman on the Cubs’ Offseason: Shortstops Are the Focus, Correa, Vazquez, Bellinger, Senga

MLB insider Jon Heyman hopped on Mully & Haugh this morning on 670 The Score, and I was listening live, jotting down notes as he spoke about – among other things – the Cubs’ offseason and various rumors.

What Heyman shared, as best I could paraphrase while I wrote it down …

  • The shortstops really are the thing for the Cubs. That’s the big focus. That’s where they are concentrating. It sounded like Heyman was suggesting that could be a determining factor on the Cubs’ offseason (which is something we’ve said before: it’s a little hard to envision, realistically, what a “successful” offseason for the Cubs looks like if they *don’t* land one of the top four shortstops).
  • Heyman has heard the price tag on Carlos Correa is ENORMOUS. Keep in mind, he said, that Correa got a $275 million offer from Detroit last offseason and did not take it. He had a different agent at that time, though, and it’s possible having Scott Boras representing him this time will allow him to get the huge deal. If he’s healthy, Correa is the best of the four shortstops, in Heyman’s view. (Agreed.)
  • Heyman is skeptical that the Cubs would actually go over $300 million for Correa. He doesn’t see them committing over $300 million to any player this offseason (I’m pretty sure that would only be Correa, as a possibility, in any case). So I extrapolate, then, that if the Cubs are going to land Correa, in Heyman’s view it would take him not getting an offer out there over $300 million. We know Sahadev Sharma has speculated that none of the shortstops is going to get longer than a seven-year deal, which, if true, would definitely leave the Cubs in play for Correa (7/$260M? something like that?).
  • Don’t sleep on Minnesota for Carlos Correa. They have a very wealthy owner, they are going to try very hard to bring him back. Heyman said he wouldn’t be shocked if Correa does actually wind up re-signing with Minnesota.
  • Catcher is the next spot where Heyman hears the most about the Cubs. He specifically mentioned Christian Vazquez as a guy they are considering. “I think they are talking to him.”
  • That makes for funny timing, by the way, because last night Vazquez followed BN on Twitter. Maybe meaningful, maybe not. But interesting and fun, right? The Cubs were reported previously as having Vazquez on the radar, and I love the fit as a defense-oriented, pitcher-friendly catcher to pair with Yan Gomes and P.J. Higgins.
  • Heyman has heard Cody Bellinger connected with the Cubs, as well as the Astros, Blue Jays, and Yankees. I didn’t get the sense that Heyman was really reporting much here – i.e., don’t read this as me saying that Heyman was saying the Cubs are strong on Bellinger or anything. He was asked about it, so he answered, sure, Cubs have been connected. That was really it.
  • Similarly, when asked about Kodai Senga and the Cubs, Heyman wasn’t dismissing it, but his focus was that TONS of teams are in on him. If he had to pick a team that was most likely to get him, Heyman said he would pick the San Diego Padres because of Senga’s close relationship with Yu Darvish. According to Heyman, Darvish is Senga’s mentor.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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