Devastating Cubs comparison makes it clear they overpaid for Dansby Swanson

The Chicago Cubs signed Jason Heyward, one of the best all-around players in the game at the time, to an eight-year $184 million deal ahead of the 2016 campaign after they made it to the NLCS. The goal with the Heyward signing was to win the World Series.

The Cubs did win it in Heyward's first season with the team, but he was not close to the same player that he was with the Braves and Cardinals. The year before signing his mega-deal, Heyward not only won a Gold Glove, but finished 15th in the NL MVP balloting after hitting .293 with a .793 OPS. He had a 117 OPS+ that season, a figure Heyward would reach just once. That came in the shortened 2020 season in which he appeared in 50 games.

Heyward wound up getting released after seven seasons with the Cubs and latching on with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Just one month later, the Cubs gave Dansby Swanson a seven-year, $177 million deal to be their shortstop. Not even two full seasons into Swanson's Cubs' tenure, fans already see comparisons between their shortstop and Heyward.

Dansby Swanson's Cubs tenure off to a brutal start thanks to devastating comparison

It's jarring how similar they've been. Nearly identical. Swanson did hit for more power, hitting 22 home runs in his first season while Heyward combined for 18 in his first two years with the Cubs, but the statistics on the graphic are almost carbon copies.

What makes this comparison even crazier is while their bats lagged behind, their defense remained elite. Swanson won the second Gold Glove of his career in his first year with the Cubs. Heyward won a Gold Glove in his first season with Chicago as well. Heyward wound up winning one in his second season with the Cubs as well. Perhaps Swanson can follow suit there.

While playing great defense is definitely valuable, especially at a position like shortstop in Swanson's case, the Cubs need a whole lot more from the 30-year-old. The current Cubs do not have nearly as much talent surrounding Swanson as they did surrounding Heyward, and their record shows that.

This season has been even worse than last for Swanson, who is slashing .212/.291/.349 with six home runs and 19 RBI in 61 games. His struggles have led Counsell to hit him eighth most of the time lately, which is not what anyone expected when the deal was initially agreed to.

Most free agents get overpaid, but the Swanson deal looks like a major overpay. Orlando Arcia is making just $2 million this season for Swanson's former employer, the Braves, and could be in the Gold Glove race this season after being an All-Star last season.

There's still more time for Swanson to turn things around, but the fact that the start of his Cubs tenure has been so similar to Heyward's shows how bad things look right now. Cubs fans won't care about the overpayment much if they can win the World Series, but they'll almost certainly need Swanson to play much better for them to have any shot anytime soon.