The Chicago Cubs have officially released veteran outfielder Jason Heyward.

Heyward, 33, is still owed $22 million next season in what would have been the final year of his eight-year, $184-million contract signed prior to 2016.

Over the life of the contract, the five-time Gold Glove winner hit .245/.323/.377 with 62 homers and 32 steals in 744 games. His .700 OPS in that span equates to an 82 OPS+ or 18% below the league average.

Heyward missed a substantial amount of time last season, suffering a knee injury in June and never returning.

He was a key member of the 2016 curse-breaking World Series squad and purportedly played an integral role by giving a clubhouse speech during the Game 7 rain delay.

Heyward hasn't officially announced his retirement, though he noted in September that he would be open to joining a front office after his playing career ends to "bridge the gap" between a clubhouse and increasingly data-driven executives, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.