Cubs: Why Kris Bryant chose the Rockies (Other Than Money)

Wednesday afternoon, reports came out that former Chicago Cubs All-Star, World Series champion and National League MVP Kris Bryant agreed to a long-term deal with the Colorado Rockies.

Terms of the deal are reportedly $185 million for seven years. As we all know, Bryant was traded from the Cubs to the San Francisco Giants at the trade deadline last summer for prospects. The Rockies came out on top, leaving the heavily interested Mariners, Padres and Phillies to look for other options. There was some hope in Chicago that he and the Cubs could reunite and work something out, but those feelings never led to real happenings.

While the Cubs organization was able to give Bryant a proper send-off last September when the Giants visited Wrigley, something never really felt complete in the hearts of the fans. There always was the smallest glimmer of hope there could be a homecoming during this offseason. Alas, it did not happen. Now with Bryant, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo all signings deals with different teams, the time has come for fans to finally turn the page.

Cubs: Kris Bryant may have chose Colorado for the smaller lens to the public eye

When in Chicago, Bryant had all eyes on him when it came to the media. It’s hard to not have a lot of attention when you become Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and World Series Champion in the first two years of a career (all with Scott Boras as your agent). Through all that, he was always respectable, likeable and told the truth with how he was feeling whenever asked. It never mattered if he wanted to or not, he understood he was in a big-market town and that came with big-market attention. He loved Chicago, and Chicago will always love him.

But it was easy to tell that he was not a huge fan of all the big-market amenities. The heavy media attention started when the Cubs held him in Triple-A for an extra year of service time, and it did not stop until, well, today really. That can be so exhausting and draining for anyone, and I felt for him more times than not.

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Bryant’s opportunity in Denver provides long-term security and a whole lot of money, sure. But it also is a fresh start for him and his growing family. It’s a shorter distance to his family on the west coast. It’s a smaller market with less greed/angst and more understanding. It’s a place where he can go and do what he wanted to do all along – just play baseball.