Jason Heyward has a $200 million offer from a mystery team

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Update, 1:27 pm: The Jason Heyward sweepstakes appears to be at an end, as the Cubs have reportedly signed the free agent outfielder after the Cardinals dropped out of the bidding.

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Jason Heyward has some decisions to make. He could join the Angels and get to play alongside Mike Trout. He could sign with the Nationals, who turned out to be the Heyward mystery team, and spend at least the next three seasons on Bryce Harper's team. The Cubs want him, and come with the allure of making history should they win a World Series, while the Cardinals are the familiar face in the bunch, and maybe the best bet for sustained success over most of a 10-year contract. One of these four teams reportedly offered Heyward a $200 million deal already, but it's unknown who it was. If Heyward has that much in hand, though, we'll probably find out soon.

It could be the Cardinals, given they just finished second in the David Price sweepstakes and might do just about anything to keep Heyward from the Cubs. It could also be the Nationals, who have shown an ability to be creative while spending in the very recent past with Max Scherzer. Plus, they have to take advantage of having Harper while they can. Jon Heyman reported that the $200 million offer probably wasn't from the Cubs, and didn't say anything about whether it was the Angels. Although, with all the deals they already have, it probably wasn't them -- unless Arte Morteno is suddenly going into "at all costs" mode.

It seems that all the attention has shifted to Heyward, though, as the Alex Gordon, Justin Upton and Yoenis Cespedes markets are almost silent right now. The only time you hear the names of Gerardo Parra or Denard Span and the like is from teams who aren't looking at any of those players. Once Heyward signs, the rest of the outfield market should get moving and keep the two weeks until Christmas busy. For now, though, we wait to see who will come away with the rare 26-year-old, high-level free agent.

• The Padres traded for Christian Bethancourt, and that makes it feel like another defensive-minded young catcher, Austin Hedges, is on the way out. Who knows, though. It's A.J. Preller and this could be part of a six-move flurry where Bethancourt will be playing in Japan soon instead of San Diego.


• The Braves added even more young players to their rebuilding effort by shipping Bethancourt out west.


• What's next for the Yankees after a couple of winter meetings trades?



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• No one knows what the Orioles and Chris Davis are up to, as all the reports on Thursday were conflicting ones.


• The Pirates love their discounted broken pitchers, and Mat Latos appears to be the next one they want to fix.


• Speaking of the forgotten Justin Upton, the Giants could use him since they seem to be out on Heyward.


• The Mets should probably be in on Heyward, but instead they're waiting for the discounted outfielder sale to begin. Not like those big-market St. Louis Cardinals!


• The Angels traded for Yunel Escobar, who surprisingly had a better 2015 at the plate than the departed Howie Kendrick.


• The Red Sox traded a former top prospect of theirs to the Brewers for cash considerations. With the success of Betts, Bogaerts, Rodriguez and Swihart, you knew that eventually someone like Garin Cecchinni was going to falter. The Brewers are in a position to see if he can be righted, though.


• It was a busy Thursday for the Nats, who dealt Escobar and got involved in the Heyward chase, but also rebuilt their bullpen with a series of moves.