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

Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it, while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s okay, though, we’re going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning, and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network, as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.

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.

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.