By Chris Brown – STL Baseball Today

After hitting just .217 in his first month wearing the birds on the bat back in April, Jason Heyward heated up with the St. Louis weather this summer, and headed into Friday’s game against the Pirates, the 26-year-old had brought his season average up to .292.

Acquired (along with Jordan Walden) in the offseason trade that sent Shelby Miller and prospect Tyrell Jenkins to Atlanta, Heyward has undoubtedly impressed in 2015, providing a great mix of gold-glove caliber defense in right field and speed on the base paths.

Currently ranked third among all outfielders in WAR (wins above replacement) since 2012, it’s clear that Heyward is in line for a big payday, with projections of potentially up to a $200 million contract. While many Cardinals fans have called for the team to lock up Heyward to an extension in-season, general manager John Mozeliak acknowledged Wednesday that contract talks between the two sides will likely have to wait until after the World Series.

“In terms of when we can actually engage, it’s really going to be this offseason,” the GM told KMOX.

Hitting the market with many prime years of production likely still to come, Heyward will certainly have a fair share of suitors with big pocketbooks this offseason. It will be interesting to see if Heyward would be willing to take a smaller deal to remain in St. Louis, or whether the Cardinals might be outbid very quickly.

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Feature image used under Creative Commons by Arturo Pardavila III. No changes made. Image license.