So, obviously the offseason really gets going after the World Series, but for 26 teams it’s already time to look ahead and that includes the Cubs. Again, not technically the offseason yet, but we already have the dumbest shit being spewed on the radio about the Cubs possibly trading Kris Bryant?
Yeah, hold on tight.
So, let’s start from the beginning.
ESPN 1000’s David Kaplan dropped a juicy piece of news on Wednesday, when he reported that according to a source the Cubs approached Bryant with a huge contract extension some time in the last several months. However, Bryant and his agent Scott Boras turned it down.
Kaplan didn’t say exactly when this offer was made nor did he mention how much it was for, but according to his source the contract extension to Bryant was “well north of $200 million.”
First, yeah that’s a shit ton of money for anyone to be turning down. Yet, I don’t understand why some fans are shocked that Bryant turned it down. He’s already going to be making about $15 million to what maybe as much as $25 million per season during the next three years of arbitration. It’s not like he’s in desperate need of money.
Also, Theo Epstein seemed pretty confident that Bryant’s shoulder will be right back to 100 percent next year. That’s really the only reason Bryant had a down year in 2018, because he had a bad shoulder for four months.
I mean, if you’re Kris Bryant, who just won rookie of the year, MVP and then had a better overall season the following year in your first three years in MLB, I’d say it’s a safe wager to bet on yourself and wait three more years for free agency to really cash in on a deal.
And again, Bryant’s a Scott Boras client. Most of his players don’t sign extensions before free agency. This isn’t shocking news.
But hey, it’s still a contract extension reportedly being turned down. So yeah, big news, but nothing at all to be panicked about. However, Kaplan didn’t just stop there.
And you know what I can’t really blame Kap here. He’s doing his job well because here I am writing about it and getting all worked up.
So, this is where the, “should the Cubs trade Bryant,” conversation starts and with all due respect to Kaplan, it’s just so damn stupid.
In the following video Kaplan breaks down the “whispers” he’s heard about the contract extension and then that turns into should the Cubs trade Bryant this offseason for a guy like Jacob deGrom and then use the money for Bryant to sign Manny Machado. It then spiraled into if the Cubs trade for deGrom then they could trade Jose Quintana.
So the scout that Kaplan talked to suggested a Bryant for deGrom trade and Kaplan goes on to have a serious conversation about the possibility of the Cubs trade Bryant.
Oh and Kap says that it’s not a big deal trading Bryant away because they could get a better player in Machado and that’s just not true. Plus, you know, the Cubs could just keep Bryant and sign Machado anyway.
"trade Bryant and sign Machado, who is a better player"
Bryant just had a 2.3 fWAR year w/a bad shoulder for 4 months.
First 3 full years in MLB. Bryant: 20.7 fWAR, Machado: 17.9 fWARHow's this for an idea, don't trade Bryant and sign Machado anyway.
I hate/love the offseason
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) October 10, 2018
This goes back to Bryant’s MVP season and maybe it’s because he’s not flashy or his personalty, but for whatever reason even Cubs fans don’t appreciate how awesome of a player he’s been. We’re talking about the best start to a career in Cubs franchise history even with a bad 2018 season.
The absolute worst thing about the Cubs losing the Wild Card Game is that we’re getting at least an extra week of dumbass shit like, “should the Cubs trade Bryant because he declined a contract extension?”
Oh and in that deGrom scenario, what if he doesn’t want to sign an extension with the Cubs? He only has two years left of arbitration. Should they just trade him right away too?
I hate that I love the offseason. But at least I get to use this clip, which ties in nicely with these “whispers.”
