March 31--MESA, Ariz. -- Ace left-hander Jon Lester didn't make his major league debut until more than two months into the 2006 season, so he knows about the service time issue surrounding minor league stars.
Lester didn't mince words Tuesday when asked what he thought about the Chicago Cubs' decision Monday to send phenom Kris Bryant to the minors despite nine home runs and a .425 batting average.
"As a player, it sucks," Lester said. "But the quicker it took me to understand it when I was coming up, the quicker you can learn this game is a business, the better off you are.
"They can say 'development, development, development' all they want. But this game is a business, and it comes down to that, and it is what it is. Everyone in this clubhouse understands it."
From the end of last season, President Theo Epstein stated he wanted Bryant, 23, the top prospect in the minors, to work on his defense and other facets of his game. But by sending Bryant to the minors for at least the first 12 days of the major league season, the Cubs would delay Bryant's eligibility for free agency at least until after the 2021 season.
"As a player, it sucks," Lester said. "But it is what it is, and I can't control what Theo does, what Kris does or anyone else does. We have to worry about what we do in this clubhouse and who is here now. And I'm sure Kris has handled it very well. He's a good kid, and he'll be with us at some point. We've all been there.
"He's just a little more high profile than the rest of us were when we were coming up. I think probably the majority of guys went through that at a different point in their careers.
"It sucks, but I hope he understands it. I hope our organization understands it and I hope our players understand it because it's something we can't control. They made a decision, and now we have to move forward.''
Lester gave a convincing answer when asked if the players wanted Bryant on the opening day roster.
"I think you want anybody swinging the bat like he is," Lester said. "But at the same time, we all understand what's going on. A lot of these guys went through the same situation. We weren't Kris Bryant. We weren't hitting nine homers in spring training. We've all had that conversation. At the end of the day, when you sit back and look at it, you say, 'OK, I get it. It's business. And this is what this game comes down to, a lot of decisions that are made. And the quicker he can realize that, which I think he does, the better off we'll be. At any given time, things can rapidly change in this game.
"Now we have to continue to prepare for Sunday and the rest of the season. He's going to do just fine. He'll be fine. He'll be with us at some point. It's just a fun topic for everyone to talk about now.''
