Although the Kris Bryant situation has long been beaten to death, it's at least becoming more entertaining. This time Bryant's agent - the infamous Scott Boras - jumped into the fun, which resulted in a response from Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein.
Not much more needs to be said about Bryant. The 23-year-old is batting .435/.500/.1000 with eight runs scored, six home runs and nine RBIs in nine spring training games and has been the team's top performer. However, the Cubs will gain an extra year of club control over the MLB's top prospect if they keep him in the minors for the first two weeks of the season to avoid him having accrue service time, which will save them millions in the long run.
The MLB Players Association said they would be monitoring the situation closely, but it's unknown what can be done since the rules make the decision completely up to the Cubs. For one, Boras is not happy about the whole situation likely because it will cost him future earnings he would make off of Bryant's contract.
"You are damaging the ethics and brand of Major League Baseball,'' Boras said of the Cubs' potential decision to keep Bryant in the minors, via Bob Nightengale of USA Today. "Kris Bryant has extraordinary skills. Kris Bryant is a superstar. He has distinguished himself from all players at every level he's played."
"Everybody in baseball is saying he's a major-league player ready for the big leagues. I have players call me. Executives call me. The Cubs' people want him there. Everyone says, 'They cannot send this guy down.' It's too obvious."
"This isn't a system choice. This isn't a mandate. This is a flat ownership decision. Do they really want to win here?''
And Epstein, once again, reiterated the choice was up to him and that he doesn't really care what anyone else has to say.
"Kris Bryant's development path has absolutely nothing to do with ownership, period," he told FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal. "As with all our baseball decisions, I will determine where Kris begins the 2015 season after consulting with members of our baseball operations staff. Comments from agents, media members and anybody outside our organization will be ignored."
"As I told Kris last September and again at the start of spring training, we view him as nearly big league ready," he added. "The remaining area for improvement is his defense - something Kris agrees with."
"If enough time remains to get Kris into a good rhythm defensively at, we may consider putting him on the club. If not, we see nothing wrong with using the early part of the season at Iowa to get him in that rhythm. We believe he's going to be an outstanding defender in time; we want him comfortable when he makes the leap to the highest level."
And then the man of the hour, Bryant himself, spoke with reporters today and defended what his agent had to say. He also addressed his situation with the Cubs' organization and talked about ownership and the team.
"Scott works for me," Bryant told Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. "He does a great job. It's nice to have a bulldog working for you rather than a poodle. He definitely sticks up for his players. He wants the best for me."
"I was aware of (the comments). But the media approached him. He wasn't seeking the media. We spoke. I got the gist of it, but I really try to limit those distractions as much as possible. But we're at a crucial point in spring training, and I'm in a good position so we'll see where it goes.''
"First, the ownership has been great to me. Drafting me second overall, treating me with nothing but first class. I've had a great time. Tom [Ricketts] has been great to me. Everyone in the front office has been great to me. I have nothing but good things to say about them."
"But at the same time, I'm hearing from my teammates they want me up and I'm doing well and everyone is telling me I'm progressing well, and it's sending mixed messages to me. But it's definitely refreshing to hear from my teammates that they want me up there and even other coaches that I know personally from around the (Arizona) Fall League and telling me how well I'm doing so. I definitely don't let it get to my head. I really got a job to do on the field, but it's definitely nice to hear that from your teammates and peers around."
Whatever the case, the entirety of the situation is clear: there are going to be many that want Bryant starting on Opening day, but that decision is ultimately up to the Cubs. Unfortunately, baseball is a business at the end of the day and the rules dictate that teams remain the right to exercise such control over their players. Keeping Bryant in the minors for an extra two weeks is no different than Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane trading away his top players to stockpile young talent and save money in the long run.
We'll see what Chicago decides to do at the end of the month.
