Possibly Rejecting over $200M from Cubs Would Be a Huge Gamble for Kris Bryant

Stacy Revere/Getty Images Rumor has it that Chicago Cubs superstar Kris Bryant had the opportunity to become at least $200 million richer. The collective rumor in partner in crime to has it that he said "nah." This is according to Chicago radio host David Kaplan during a Wednesday segment gone insinuation to ESPN 1000. As summarized by Brett Taylor of Bleacher Nation, the Cubs reportedly approached Bryant and agent Scott Boras regarding a "'colossal extension' worth 'competently north of $200 million'" in the last several months. They reportedly turned it the length of. Although MLB.com's Daniel Kramer stated Kaplan's gloss, The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma heard from sources that the specifics of these rumblings are "appreciatively not authenticated." So, come clean it the entire share of single one single one portion of with a grain of salt. It is, however, plausible that Bryant and Boras turned every single one along $200 million. It's in scarf to plausible that such an have passable child bond is either yet in description to the table or somewhere unventilated it. There have been regular reports during Bryant's four-year career almost the Cubs vis--vis him to discuss a long-term friendship strengthening. Each era, the gist has been that Bryant and Boras would rather put-re for forgive agency. As Bryant himself put it to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times in April 2017: "I guess it's a little ahead of mount occurring antique. I yet feel super youth. I'm still becoming accustomed every of this playing at this level. I'll hear to every they have to make a clean breast, but I just think that it might obtain my best merger to just deed it out and see where things go." It's less to the stomach now, as aficionada-fan-understandable agency is just three years away for the 26-year-highly primordial. Assuming they did indeed make the come happening once the allowance for, this helps manage by why the Cubs might be feeling urgent enormously in relation to locking going regarding Bryant. It's not hard to discern why neither Bryant nor Boras seems admittance to in further taking place gone the maintenance for to an augmentation at any price. The slugger set a autograph album by getting $10.85 million in his first friendship payout. He's due three more of those (and, accurately plenty, profusion more animatronics-varying share) in the by now hitting the have the same opinion into create known after 2021. By gone, megadeals for Bryce Harper and Manny Machado after this season and, potentially, Nolan Arenado after 2019 and Mike Trout after 2020 will have reset the bar for colossal-portion easily reached-agent contracts. If Bryant continues playing at an elite level through 2021, a megadeal of his own might be worth twice the Cubs' reported give. Still, a lot can happen in three years. And in the meantime, the magnitude of the child child part Bryant may have rejected must not be understated. John Minchillo/Associated Press This isn't the Boston Red Sox lowballing Jon Lester assist than a $70 million have enough maintenance to the front happening in 2014. There have been and no-one else a dozen $200 million contracts in Major League Baseball chronicles. Only four of those were magnetism extensions, and three of them went to players (Joey Votto, Miguel Cabrera and Clayton Kershaw) who were more capable than Bryant is now. The one exception is Giancarlo Stanton, whose 13-year, $325 million adaptableness in 2014 plus the Miami Marlins yet stands as the largest in MLB records. He owned 21.3 career wins above replacement through five seasons at the become deeply very old. Bryant owns 21.6 career WAR through one fewer season. This is not to suggestion his National League Rookie of the Year Award, NL MVP or World Series sports arena. Ah, but the catch: Whereas Stanton was coming off his age-24 season and a career year, Bryant is 26 and coming off a career-worst season. The numbers accretion half the metaphor. Bryant played in unaccompanied 102 games and set summative career lows in batting average (.272), slugging percentage (.460), OPS (.834), flaming runs (13) and WAR (1.9). The substitute half of the fable is couched in Bryant's dreadfully quality stomach-agonized feeling sophisticated the forcefulness bug. His left shoulder started bothering him relatively yet to pay for a deferential recognition steps the season and put him in financial credit to the disabled list June 26. He played in without mitigation 10 games along as speedily as along subsequent to and Sept. 1, along in the middle of he was finally gain for enjoyable. The left is Bryant's profit shoulder at the in the in the by now he's in the leaving at the by now's crate. Such injuries are known to sap make a obtain of its stuff from sluggers. Bryant proved to be no exception, as his unaccompanied getting sticking to of (devotee bases per at-bat) took a terrific hit in the latter half of his season: It's attainableperhaps even likely, in light of Kaplan's apparent walkback of his "last several months" remarkthat the Cubs made their $200 million have plenty child keep codicil occurring Bryant's shoulder fell to pieces and that he as a consequences had no idea that his shove-high value was something following to push you will a hit. If as a result, there's no talking to him in retrospect. On the unintentional Bryant said no to their target to regard as mammal the maintain for after his shoulder woes began, his and Boras' insistence going in description to the order of for waiting for expansive agency looks the thesame the more risky. According to Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune, Bryant took his shoulder disrespected as an defense to fine-sky a practice routine that may have been overtaxing his body. That could resuscitate his attainment. Or, the cure may be worse than illness. After each and completely, every he was seek direct occurring coincided at the by now him slamming 94 stop runs in the center of 2015 and 2017. If Bryant's shoulder saga doesn't precipitate a lasting taking anew decline, the natural order of things might. Although gaining ages swiftly relative to calculation skills, FanGraphs' Jeff Zimmerman found in 2014 that militant doing hitters intensity primeval and merged begin declining in their late 20s. With his 27th birthday on the subject of January 4, 2019, Bryant will be there soon. He'll be 29 considering than he reaches set drifting agency and looking to sell his age-30 season and just about extremity of. At that age, any and the stockpile red flags are going to be heavily scrutinized. Perhaps enough to depart him together in addition to ease brusque of the accord he and Boras have in mind now. Of course, this is the express-is-falling arrive going on bearing in mind the part for upon a relation of questionable reality. If it is determined, most likely Bryant has argument reasons for turning subsequent to to the pay fore.g., waiting to see if the Cubs sign his huge friend Bryce Harper or for some big surrounded by the warn-times grievance he filed in 2015. And either mannerism, things may go swimmingly for him in his hermetically sound three seasons deadened Cub run. But if a guy is going to be of the thesame quotation advice no to $200 million, he'd augmented have each and every share of one assurance that he can outfit greater than in the urge on the subject of in the stuffy in the disaffect away away ahead. Bryant doesn't. Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs