A little over half a decade ago, Kris Bryant was the face of perhaps the most famous baseball team in living memory: A World Series-winning Cubs team. A former Rookie of the Year turned MVP, he was the best player on a squad many soon won’t forget. At age 30, the superstar still has plenty of quality baseball left in him. Even better, he gets to choose when and where such baseball happens.
Surely that means signing with a contender, no? Someone who Bryant can play deep into October with every year, right?
Uh, about that.
Third baseman Kris Bryant and the Colorado Rockies are in agreement on a seven-year, $182 million contract, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 16, 2022
The Rockies aren’t exactly what anyone would consider a factor for the World Series. Far from it. According to Tipico Sportsbook, Colorado is a robust +10000 to win October’s “hunk of metal” (hey, Rob Manfred). And they’re not going to be winning any time soon either. Unless they have the coin purse of the Dodgers or Yankees, poor teams in Major League Baseball don’t turn it around overnight. Some, like the Pirates, never turn it around at all. You either have the money (except in this case) or the prospects, and Colorado has neither.
But Bryant, 30, is a smart cookie. He knows what he’s signing up for:
The dough, with over $180 million smackeroos, and the opportunity to play himself into Cooperstown in a hitter’s park. Only Miller Park in Milwaukee is historically more friendly to hitters than the Rockies’ Coors Field of all active ballparks. Bryant assuredly did his homework, and Coors will be his domain for the rest of his professional baseball days.
And why not? With a MVP and World Series under his belt, why not take the Brinks truck of cash and opportunity to get a bust of yourself in a prestigious museum? Bryant’s already achieved the pinnacle of the sport and more. Now’s the time to coast on his exceptional talent. Now’s the time to reap the handsome rewards that a squad like the Cubs — who once manipulated his service time — never did. Few others wouldn’t choose a chance at being filthy rich while hitting countless dingers.
Kris Bryant has earned the right to take his talents and his wallet where he pleases. If it’s the path more traveled and the less treacherous one–good for him.
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