Cubs News: Kris Bryant earns NL Player of the Week honors

Kris Bryant revenge season is upon us – officially. The Chicago Cubs superstar and former National League MVP is playing better than he did during the first month of that historic 2016 season and, for his efforts over the last seven days, Bryant has been named the NL Player of the Week.

Bryant turned in a 1.542 OPS last week to go along with a 293 wRC+. He hit .417, belting four home runs and driving in 10. To this point, there’s just one player in the Senior Circuit who has been more valuable than him and that’s the National League’s Player of the Month for April, Ronald Acuna Jr.

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For the Cubs to be competitive, Bryant has to be on his game. But even his MVP-caliber performance during the first month of the season hasn’t been enough to bolster a Chicago club that looks very much like it’ll be a seller come this summer. At this point, you can’t help but look at every home run he hits as a further boost to his quickly-climbing trade value.

On the year, the former first-rounder is leading the lead in several offensive categories – something we haven’t been able to say about Bryant in some time. He either leads the league or is tied for the league lead in slugging percentage, doubles, home runs and OPS+. All this while also moving around the diamond defensively on a daily basis. But sure, let’s just trade him.

Cubs need to get off the bench and into the Kris Bryant extension fight

At this point, it sure feels like Anthony Rizzo is going to walk at year’s end. The front office and ownership bungled extension talks with the Cubs first baseman this spring and it would be tough to walk back that insultingly low offer.

Talks with Javier Baez, another free agent-to-be, haven’t progressed yet either. Given his up-and-down offensive showing this season, it remains to be seen if Chicago is willing to offer him a long-term deal. Jed Hoyer could very easily look to replace him with someone who’s more consistent and offers more of a steady presence.

If only there were an MVP-caliber player the Cubs could turn to and build around… Oh, wait. That’s Bryant, who is in his final year of team control and is widely considered to be little more than a trade chip. It’s imperative Hoyer sits down with Tom Ricketts and finds the money to make him a Cub for the rest of his career.

Players like this don’t just fall into the laps of organizations and if the Cubs fail to lock him up as the cornerstone of the franchise, it’ll stand out as one of the glaring failures in team history.