Chicago Cubs: Kris Bryant’s future more questionable by the day

With Kris Bryant eyeing free agency in 2022, many are wondering if the Chicago Cubs will be saying goodbye to him after his contract ends.

Tuesday morning it was reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan that the Colorado Rockies granted third baseman Nolan Arenado an eight-year, $255 million extension. Arenado was set to be a free agent after the 2019 season before this massive extension was made. It is also noteworthy that is happening before Bryce Harper has even found a home.

The Arenado deal has a lot of questions being asked by Chicago Cubs fans regarding Kris Bryant. He is set to become a free agent in 2022 after he makes $12.9 million this year and is arbitration eligible for the next two seasons. Remember that Bryant was kept down in the minors for two weeks in 2015 to earn the extra year of control.

Can the Cubs reach a sort of extension deal like this for Bryant? Does them not signing Harper make a difference in their chances to do so? Right now the future of Bryant and the Cubs seem more and more uncertain, and it is hard to see him and his agent Scott Boras not at least test free agency in the 2022 offseason.

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For the record this has been a question since he arrived to the majors, it is just being brought back to light again and fear of him leaving is increasing.

The chances Kris Bryant is no longer a Cub after 2021.

If the Cubs were to make a formal extension offer, there is no way it would be equal or less to Arenado’s. The rumored $200+ million extension offer that was deemed untrue back in October seemingly indicated Bryant was not willing to consider talking extension.

Then just the other day he said he was open to talking extension, and he would be dumb not to, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers who spoke on ESPN 1000 on Bryant’s behalf. This does not necessarily mean Bryant is actively looking at an extension but that he is willing to at least talk about it and he gets the final say over his agent.

One thing that does seem sure is that Bryant was frustrated with how he was handled in his upbringing to the majors. The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma quoted Bryant talking on keeping players down (such as Eloy Jimenez, Vlad Guerrero Jr.) for teams to earn an extra year of control, including himself.

"“So awful. It’s going to happen this year and it happens every year — They’re finding a loophole in the system. It doesn’t make it right — That infuriated me. Stop promoting the guy if you know exactly what’s going to happen.”"

Read this as you will. One could say he is angry at the Cubs organization for what they did to him. It can be looked at as him being angry at the system overall, pointing to the fact other teams are doing it with other players. Or maybe it is both and he does not think what the Cubs did to him was right no matter what other teams are doing. He is keeping what happened to him in mind while looking forward…as Jonah Hill famously said in the 2007 film Superbad, “People don’t forget.”

It is time to worry?

While there is certainly a possibility Bryant walks and does not resign in 2020, fans have to hope he helps give the best he can the next three years. They will have the core intact for the rest of his certain tenure here, which may be the remainder of the championship window.

This is why the Cubs should make the most of the next three years and maximize their chances. If the team losses Bryant, and a few others after 2021-2022, it will be easier to swallow if they won another title or at least did everything they could to attempt to. The lack of moves this offseason probably is what is making people worry about what happens to Bryant three years from now even more.

We have no idea where Bryant will end up in 2020, and may or not be the Cubs. Bryant could as well be willing to strike an extension with the Cubs at some point as he said. Anything can happen, but fans should prepare for the worst and hope for the best.