MESA, Ariz. – The massive contract extension third baseman Nolan Arenado signed this week with the Rockies might as well have been a fastball to the ribs of the Cubs’ baseball-operations piggybank.
If nothing else, it seems to make the already long odds of ever signing Kris Bryant to an extension even longer – and certainly a far more expensive proposition.
Arenado, an elite fielder and slugger with four All-Star appearances but no MVP or Rookie of the Year award, got an eight-year, $260 million extension.
Talk about setting a bar for a player such as Bryant, who has an ROY, an MVP, a World Series ring, two All-Star selections and a higher career OPS (.900) than Arenado (.886).
“Yeah, totally,” said Bryant, who makes $12.9 million this year with three seasons remaining before free agency. “You always look at what the other people at your position do in terms of their contracts, and you compare yourself accordingly.
“Obviously, Nolan’s a great player. He’s been doing it for a long time, super consistent, tons of passion playing the game. So it’s nice to see another third baseman sign for that much.”
Bryant, who became the Cubs’ union representative last season, has been outspoken since then about the sudden slowdowns in free agency the past two winters and service time manipulation, which cost him a year added to club control before he’s eligible for free agency.
Bryant has been approached about a long-term extension by the front office in recent years, but talks went nowhere, and he has said he’s not afraid to go year-by-year through the arbitration process.
That doesn’t mean he holds any grudges or that he won’t listen.
“I’ve said I will listen to anything they have to say,” Bryant said. “It’d be silly not to. I’d be dumb not to hear anything they had to offer. But right now it seems to be they’re not willing to do that, because they haven’t gotten anybody new [or spent on extensions]. And that’s OK, too.”
Bryant said he has not been approached this winter about an extension.
MVP runner-up Javy Baez and Game 7 World Series starter Kyle Hendricks both said the same thing in recent days.
Asked if he believes the free agency slowdown, coupled with the Arenado signing, might influence other players to sign extensions, Bryant said: “Sure, but I think you look at Nolan’s, and that’s basically a free agency deal.
“But you look at Bryce [Harper], and he’s going to break whatever Nolan got. Obviously, that’s kind of why he’s still waiting. It just depends on the kind of person you are. If you want to wait you wait; if you don’t you don’t. That’s what it comes down to.”
Harper and Bryant are both represented by agent Scott Boras, who routinely takes his top clients to free agency, typically seeking market-setting deals.
Harper is expected to make a decision this week on where he’ll play in 2019, with the Phillies long considered the favorites and the Dodgers and Giants reportedly still involved.
This winter’s other top free agent, Manny Machado, signed a 10-year, $300 million deal with the Padres last week.
And that’s just one more indication to Bryant of how robust the industry is as a whole and how strange that makes some teams’ spending behavior look – and maybe even why an increasing number of players, including Bryant, have spoken out about a possible labor fight on the horizon.
“It just goes to show that the teams that you don’t expect to have the money do,” he said. “Nobody expected the Padres to do this, but they did. And I heard they’re still talking about Bryce.
“Everybody has money,” he added. “We’re not stupid. We see the price of the tickets, the price of the memorabilia, everything – TV deals. There’s a lot of money in this game.”
