Chicago Cubs: Top 3 signs Kris Bryant will be gone next season

Ongoing grievance hearings regarding potential service-time manipulation on the part of the Chicago Cubs has Kris Bryant front and center right now.

Since 2016, life has certainly changed for Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant. In 2016, Bryant was on fire, blasting 39 home runs and scoring 121 runs for the World Series champion Cubs.

However, the next two seasons were not as kind to Bryant who was plagued by injury, forcing him to re-tool his swing. In 2017, Bryant batted 549 times as opposed to the 603 in 2016. Things were certainly spiraling downward for the treasured third baseman. When he finally got back to the lineup in 2018 he put up only 13 home runs in 389 trips to bat and his run production fell to just 59 – as, once again, he played at less than 100 percent.

Fans knew it right away, something was definitely different about Bryant after the 2016 season. In 2019, everyone expected Bryant to pull out of his slump and return to the MVP status he once held. While on paper, Bryant’s numbers looked good, 153 hits, 108 runs and 31 home runs; those offensive explosions seemed out of sync for when the Chicago Cubs really needed Bryant to come through with his bat.

Now the season is over and there are signs everywhere that Bryant may have played his last game as a member of the Chicago Cubs. Let’s take a look at the top three signs Bryant will be gone next season.