Cubs Rumors: Jed Hoyer says team isn’t working on a Kris Bryant trade

For more than a year now, Kris Bryant trade rumors have been one of the central storylines when it comes to the Chicago Cubs.

The former National League Rookie of the Year and MVP is entering his final year of team control and with Chicago taking a machete to payroll, Bryant seemed like a pretty good bet to be dealt this offseason. But with pitchers and catchers reporting on Wednesday, he’s still on the roster – and there are no immediate plans to move him, according to Jed Hoyer.

“We’re not currently engaged in any trade talk,” Hoyer told MLB.com on Tuesday. “We haven’t been, actually, for a little while now. And so, could someone make that phone call? Yeah, someone could. But I’m not anticipating it.”

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Of course, after Justin Turner returned to the Dodgers on a two-year deal, we speculated on whether or not we’d see Bryant’s market heat up. But that hasn’t proven to be the case – as Hoyer pointed out recent reports connecting the Cubs to the Mets on that front as ‘inaccurate’. 

That doesn’t mean Bryant won’t end up being traded, though. Given the team’s lack of progress when it comes to extending the three-time All-Star and the fact that other key pieces, namely Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo, are also free agents at season’s end, there’s still a decent chance at least one of them wind up being moved.

For Chicago to extract any real value in a Bryant trade, though, the slugging third baseman will have to get back on track offensively. Injuries and the craziness that was the 2020 season have slowed him the last two years and both sides are hoping he can get off to a hot start in 2021.

Kris Bryant rumors will surround the Cubs all season long

If he does perform like the former MVP he is, you can expect trade rumors to ramp up quickly, regardless of where the Cubs find themselves in the standings. They’re not going to extend all three guys who are entering walk years – and someone is bound to be the odd-man out. Hoyer says he plans on being transparent with the players in his first season at the helm of the baseball ops team at Wrigley.

“I’ve told him (Bryant) and others, ‘If your name comes up in trade rumors or you’re anxious about something, just come and talk to me about it.'” Hoyer said. “‘I’ll shoot you straight about those things. Yes, this is real. Or no, this is something that’s fictitious.’ Having an open dialogue.

For now, it looks and sounds like Kris Bryant will be on the Opening Day roster. We’re all hoping for a big bounceback from the slugger – because, no matter how the next six months play out, he deserves to re-establish himself as the dominant force he was once viewed as.