Cubs Rumors: Jed Hoyer ‘absolutely’ sees Kris Bryant on Opening Day roster

Chicago Cubs: Trading Bryant now would be selling wildly low

Chicago tendered the former MVP a contract last week and is set to make just under $20 million for the 2021 season. Even with a contract in place, a possible trade involving Bryant has not been ruled out, though Hoyer said he “absolutely” sees a path where Bryant is wearing a Cub uniform on Opening Day.

“I think that’s been treated as a certainty,” Hoyer said. “Listen, Kris is a great player–he’s a superstar player–that obviously didn’t have the year that he had hoped. But when you look at our offense, there were several other players that had similar struggles.”

Since the end of the statistical stinker of a 2020 season, I have been a big believer the Cubs are better off holding onto Bryant until at least next year’s trade deadline. I say that because of Bryant’s value, which is at an all-time low. The global pandemic has metaphorically infected the offseason market, leaving teams less willing to take risks and commit large salaries during this period of uncertainty.

No one is going to trade away their future for a player who has injury concerns and barely hit above .200 last season. I think the better gamble is to hope Bryant can perform better than last season, and move him when a contending team is willing to go all-in. Judging by his comments on Thursday, I believe Hoyer is of the same mindset.

“What do we expect from him in ‘21? We expect far more of the normal Kris Bryant-type performance than we got last year,” Hoyer said. “I don’t think it should be treated as a fait accompli that [a trade is] going to happen.”

Chicago Cubs: Hoyer is poised to extract fair value in a Kris Bryant trade

Now if you’re like me, you probably had to pull out your pocket dictionary to figure out what the heck “fait accompli” means. It translates to “a thing has already happened or been decided before those affected hear about leaving them with no option but to accept it.”

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Talk about a mouthful, but it sounds as if Hoyer has no immediate plans to send Bryant packing. Could he just be saying this to save face at the moment? I wouldn’t put it past him.

At the end of the day, Hoyer and his fellow MLB executives run a business, so if an offer that intrigues the Cubs falls into their laps today, tomorrow, or months from now they will more than likely sign off.

Obviously Hoyer isn’t going to come out and say “Yeah, we’ve been trying to trade KB for a while, but we just haven’t seen any offers we like.” No good poker player puts all his cards on the table, and Bryant will hear and read rumors too.

I’m sure Hoyer wants to put Bryant at ease and give him some relief by saying all the things that sound like he will be around for a little longer, especially if he is still on the team and needs to perform at a high level.

“Listen, we’ve known Kris since he was in college and since we drafted him,” Hoyer said. “He’s a wonderful person. I think there are a lot of fantastic years ahead of him.”

Just how much truth there is in these statements remains to be seen, though time will eventually tell as we make our way closer to Opening Day. I believe Hoyer when he says Bryant has a lot of “fantastic years ahead of him”. As for how many of those years will be with the Cubs, who knows?