Pulling trigger early on Kris Bryant would be pure stupidity

After launching 52 home runs and driving in 142 runs in 174 games across his first season-and-a-half in professional baseball, Chicago Cubs top prospect Kris Bryant has turned heads not only in the Windy City, but across the baseball world. As the organization moves out of rebuilding mode and begins to contend, the big question now looming is the one on everyone’s mind: when will we see him at Wrigley Field?

This topic was addressed recently when the Cubs brain trust spoke on the matter with fans and members of the media, including President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein.

"“It’s too early to speculate about what the Opening Day roster’s going to look like,” Epstein said. “When Bryant gets up here – just because of the amount of interest in him – I think it’s going to reach another level (with his debut). We’ll see whenever that is. I’m not as concerned about the start date as I am about the impact that he can make."

I’m not buying it.

There’s no way that an organization that has essentially bombed the last three seasons – all in the name of the ‘future’ – will allow itself to lose a potential extra year of control over a player of Bryant’s caliber over a few weeks at the start of the season. If Chicago waits until late April/early May to promote Bryant to Chicago, they will control him through 2021. If they don’t, down the road, those fans clamoring for his presence on the big league roster at the break of camp next spring could – and likely will – end up feeling very, very foolish.

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First, let’s just focus on Bryant as a player. He’s a career .327/.428/.666 hitter who, in his worst extended showing with any affiliate (excluding the handful of games he appeared in with rookie-level Arizona right after he was drafted in 2013), posted a 1.097 OPS with 21 home runs and 52 RBIs in 70 games with Triple-A Iowa this year.

His defense isn’t where it will eventually wind up – but there’s a legitimate chance he doesn’t play third base for the remainder of his big league career, as he will reportedly look to get reps in the outfield next spring, as well. But for his size, he plays a decent third base already and has a solid arm.

So let’s just keep that in our back pockets for a minute and remember one critical detail – Bryant is a Scott Boras client. Boras, an agent who is notorious for keeping his clients from signing with clubs before reaching free agency, could very well prove to be a thorn in the Cubs’ side in about seven years. So why would Epstein and Hoyer risk crossing that bridge early if it could be easily avoided altogether? Simply put, they won’t.

This front office duo is smarter than that. They’re well aware of the talent that exists already on the roster with the likes of Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez and Jorge Soler – not to mention Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks, both of whom still have a lot to prove, but took major steps forward in 2014. With some of the most notable changes to Wrigley Field in decades complete in the form of video boards and increased bleacher signage, excitement will already be high amongst Cubs fans.

Waiting until we can go to games without our beers frosting over in the stands to see Bryant won’t kill us. We’ve waited this long for the front office to assemble a solid, respectable organization top-to-bottom with pieces like this young slugger. If you think a few more weeks without him in Chicago is worth a year of control in his prime – or if you think the Cubs honestly believe that – you have some serious thinking to do.

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