Chicago Cubs: Let’s all just pump the brakes on trading Kris Bryant

With the Chicago Cubs looking to reload ahead of the 2020 season, people seem pretty convinced the team will move on from former NL MVP Kris Bryant.

Apparently, Kris Bryant is getting traded. Since the season ended, I’ve gotten more text messages from half-panicked fans asking me about this than any other topic – even the Chicago Cubs moving on from Joe Maddon, the guy who led the team to a World Series championship.

Why? Simple. Theo Epstein (rightfully) told the media in his post-mortem press conference that he’d keep all his options open this offseason as he looked to address his team’s weaknesses in hopes of returning to the postseason in 2020.

When asked specifically about Bryant and 2018 National League MVP runner-up Javier Baez, here’s what Epstein had to say:

“We’d love them to be Cubs. But, again, all these players — these are guys we have to be open-minded about, too,” he told The Athletic (subscription required). “Trying to keep for the long-term. Do you just keep them for two years? Or do you contemplate listening on trades for them?”

He also admitted that the team has approached both Bryant and Baez in the past about extensions, albeit unsuccessfully. That hardly demonstrates the Cubs are ready to move on from both guys. But you’d never know that if you’re scrolling social media in recent days.

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Never mind the fact Bryant put up some pretty impressive numbers yet again in 2019. He cut his strikeout rate from the year prior, while improving his walk rate. After battling through a power-sapping shoulder injury, the former MVP and Rookie of the Year jumped back into the picture with a .239 ISO – a mark well above league average.

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He got on base at a .382 clip – a mark that trailed only perennial on-base machine Anthony Rizzo among Cubs teammates. All this comes together in a 135 wRC+, which is his highest mark since 2017. In short, Bryant was, once again, a very, very good player.

Would trading someone like Kris Bryant help replenish a farm system that Baseball America ranked as the second-worst in all of baseball at the trade deadline? Of course. He’s one of the best players in the game – period.

But with just two years left in the Cubs’ current championship window (barring Epstein managing to extend it during that time) – losing someone like Bryant in the middle of the Cubs order would make competing a much taller task.

“I look at them (Bryant and Baez) both the same,” Epstein said. “They’re fantastic players. I don’t think it’s mutually exclusive. I think they’re both hugely important and it would be hard to see them out of a Cubs uniform. But we’re at a transition point and we have to do whatever is best for the Cubs. I hope it includes both those guys.”

I’m not saying Chicago won’t have trade discussions regarding virtually every player of this roster in the coming weeks and months. In fact, I believe the team may very well move on from their two-time All-Star catcher in Contreras. But it’ll be a fine balance in retooling for the future and putting together a 25-man mix of guys ready to compete for a World Series title again in 2020.