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

Few have considered the possibility the Cubs hold on to Kris Bryant this winter.

As the slower than usual MLB offseason continues to move along, so do the many questions regarding the future of the Chicago Cubs. The direction of the franchise was made a little clearer last week with Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora being non-tendered, but a great deal of uncertainty remains.

The hot topic of the winter will undoubtedly be Kris Bryant rumors. We’ve seen him connected to several teams already this offseason, most prominently the Washington Nationals. Of course, with Dave Dombrowski calling the shots for the Phillies now, you can’t sleep on Philadelphia throwing its hat in the ring given his track record.

But amidst all the rumors, the Cubs’ new president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer might have given clarity about his future. That, or maybe he’s just not putting all his cards on the table.

The quiet Winter Meetings wrapped up on Thursday with the Cubs’ biggest acquisitions coming in the form of new third base coach Willie Harris, and Rule 5 draft pitcher Gray Fenter. Following the conclusion of the socially-distanced meetings, Hoyer addressed the media and to no surprise was asked about the future of Bryant on the North Side.

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?