Chicago Cubs: Perception, rather than reality, shapes Cubs fandom

Money matters – especially to Cubs fans

Here’s another example to consider: Jason Heyward. Cubbies Crib’s own Jake Misener recently posted a wonderful piece on Heyward. In this story, he highlighted that the dude has never given up and works as hard (or harder) than anyone on improving his craft. While this is certainly an endearing trait, it is one that is all too often ignored by public perception.

Yes, Jason Heyward costs the Cubs over $180 million dollars. He is statistically a player who has room for improvement. But he is perceived as a train wreck of a player, which isn’t accurate. Heyward has produced only slightly worse offensively than the aforementioned Zobrist. The latter has scored 17 fewer runs and is batting 13 points lower than the former. Meanwhile, Heyward’s defense has been light years ahead of most others in that same time.

Don’t get me wrong, Heyward’s contract pays him as a player who should be more consistent and much more reliable across the board. That isn’t the argument here. The argument is that the perception of Heyward as an unmitigated disaster and mistake of a signing is greatly flawed.