MESA, Arizona — Whether he actually will be kept “in the loop” on trade talks anymore than he ever was in the past, Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant sounded confident after meeting with team president Theo Epstein that he’ll remain with the club at least through the season.
“Everything went great,” Bryant said Tuesday. “It was the best meeting I had with a superior. He just gave me insight as to what kind of happened in the offseason.”
Bryant said the Sunday sit-down included no assurances of being kept in the loop of any further trade talks that might arise.
But when asked if he believed after the conversation that he’ll be with the club on Opening Day, he said: “Yes, I do.”
And past the July 31 trade deadline: “Yep. I’m a Chicago Cub.”
Bryant, who in January lost a grievance against the team over service-time manipulation, has been available since Epstein closed the season last year by suggesting big changes over the winter and saying the club would be open to trading any player on the roster.
Payroll budget concerns made Bryant — who had turned down early-career overtures for a contract extension — the likeliest of the core to be moved, given his value as a three-time All-Star and 2016 MVP, his value as a player with two more years of club control and his salary level ($18.6 million this year with one more year of arbitration eligibility left).
Epstein offered no guarantees that a big trade — involving anybody — wouldn’t yet happen, but also said: “we’re kind of turning the page with our focus” to preparing for the season.
“Like I said, it sure would be nice,” Bryant said of getting stronger assurances that he’ll remain all year with the team. “But they by no means have to do that for any of us players.
“It was just a really great meeting. I felt great coming out of it,” he said. “And it wasn’t like we were just talking about stuff that happened in the offseason. He was giving me advice on being a dad [baby due in April] and stuff like that. It was just cool to sit down and just get that off our chest and our checklist and move on. And I’m ready to play ball and win a ton of games. I really am.”
