Cubs: It’s time for Kris Bryant to grow up

Kris Bryant of the Cubs has been on a downslope for 3 seasons

Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant won’t hit his 30th birthday for another year, so perhaps it’s too much to ask of him to grow up.

But on the off chance that Bryant is prepared – finally – to escape a child-like existence where everybody tells him they love him, he may want to come to grips with the fact that he is engaged in a business.

That seems to be a hard lesson for Bryant to learn.

A few days ago Bryant told Barstool Chicago he wasn’t having as much fun playing baseball as he used to.

ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported on the interview Thursday, using excerpts from the inteview.

"“It really got to me sometimes. The first trade rumors (in 2018) really got to me.”"

Ooh, big bad trade rumors hurt his feelings. Yep, time for Kris Bryant to grow up.

He went on to cite “a lot of other (unspecified) stuff,” presumably the increasingly bitter atmosphere that continues to emanate from his 2015 debut being held back just long enough to ensure that he didn’t hit free agency this winter.

Instead, Bryant was forced to sign an arbitration-leveraged one-year deal with the Cubs for a measly $19.5 million.

Rogers recalled a comment from Bryant at the end of last season.

"“I don’t give a s—. Sometimes I go out there and go 4-for-4 and it’s not good enough for some people, so I don’t give a s—.”"

For the record, Bryant has gone 4-for-4 once since 2017. It must have been an especially hostile crowd that day to mar the psyche of the Cubs third baseman in such a lasting fashion.

Over the past few seasons, he has repeatedly shut down overtures about a new, longer-term deal, presumably betting that he’ll be worth more on the open market.

Also depressing Bryant is the fact that the Cubs, who may be betting the other way, are shopping him. Even worse, they’re not finding any takers.

You mean there is no market for a $19.5 million third baseman who may walk at season’s end and who’s coming off the three least productive seasons of his career?

In 2020, 14 National Leaguers put in at least 200 innings at third base. Among those 14, here’s where Bryant  ranked in major offensive categories:

• Batting average: 10th
• On base average: 13th
• Slugging average: 11th
• Home runs: tied for ninth
• Runs batted in: 13th
• OPS+: 12th

Now consider one final category … salary. Among those same 14, Bryant ranked fourth in pay at $18.6 million. Only Nolan Arenado ($32 million), Manny Machado ($30 million) and Justin Turner ($20 million) were better-compensated.

Arenado and Arenado bettered Bryant in all six of the above categories by margins that would embarrass Bryant if they were publicly disclosed. Turner beat him in five of the six, and tied him in home runs, each with four.

In the 2020 postseason, Bryant — the centerpiece of the Cubs offense — did exactly as well as I would have at far less cost: .000 in eight at bats, stranding four baserunners.

No, it wasn’t a short-season aberration. After three fine seasons, he began trending toward mediocrity in 2018, appeared to turn things around a bit in 2019, then cratered in 2020.

Nor were his postseason maladies unusual. Save for that wonderful 2016 postseason when Bryant helped powered the Cubs to their first World Series win since 1908, he’s been a postseason bust. In 20 postseason games other than 2016, he’s a .170 hitter with eight RBI.

The takeaway is that Bryant is engaged in a business – a multi-million dollar one – and while having fun is preferable to not having fun, he’s paid to do a job and he hasn’t been doing it.

If his realization of that is what has taken the fun out of his game, then he’ll find the solution in a mirror. If he feels he’s being picked on – he’s not, but if he feels he is – he’ll be free to leave Chicago at season’s end, unless he can provide some other sap of a team a reason to take him off the Cubs’ hands sooner.