It's still unknown if the Chicago Cubs will have top prospect Kris Bryant on their Opening Day roster. It's also not very clear where the team wants him to play, since he'll be trying out a new position this week.
According to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com, the Cubs will have Bryant play some outfield for his next test in spring training and he'll begin drills on Tuesday. This was previously speculated earlier in the offseason, especially before the team traded Luis Valbuena to the Houston Astros. The 23-year-old has played only third base in his two-year minor league career.
"Speaking to him, he was all for it," manager Joe Maddon told Muskat. "I think he understands the ability to play more than one position, how that benefits you in the future as a Major League Baseball player. His tools play in both spots. He's very confident with the glove, runs well, has a fine arm."
Bryant has made it clear he prefers third base because that's where he's most comfortable, but Maddon and Cubs' general manager Jed Hoyer are proponents of using players in different positions to make them more versatile as well as take pressure of their bat. Additionally, Bryant has experienced some fatigue in his throwing shoulder, so moving him to the outfield could give his arm a bit of a rest since he won't have to be zinging the ball across the diamond to throw out runners at first. He will likely be faced with some tough throws in the outfield, but they'll be much less frequent than at the hot corner.
However, this move poses a big question: Are the Cubs doing this to provide a better explanation if they start him in the minor leagues?
We don't know, but here are the facts.
If the Cubs keep Bryant at Triple-A Iowa for the first 12 days of the season, they will gain an additional year of club control over him and postpone his free agency, which would save them millions. Cubs' president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said the decision will be a baseball decision because Bryant still has to work on his defensive skills at third base. Following the Valbuena trade, Hoyer said the transaction did not expedite Bryant's promotion and that it's entirely dependent on the youngster's progression.
Well, Bryant is slashing .480/.552/1.520/2.072 with 10 runs scored, 8 home runs and 24 RBIs in 10 games (25 at-bats) and has shown he's more than capable of playing third base. So now that Epstein and co. have no other logical explanation to keep him in the minors without mentioning service-time considerations, is this latest move to the outfield part of their plan to pose a legitimate argument for their case?
"The refusal of executives to discuss the service-time question indicates that management has some degree of doubt about the legality of its position," writes FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal. "The union's argument would be that the Cubs are operating outside the spirit of the CBA, demoting Bryant not because he needs to improve as a player, but because they want control over him for an additional year."
The MLB Players Association said they would be closely monitoring how the Cubs handle Bryant. His agent, Scott Boras, even publicly stated there's no reason for the prospect to start the year in the minors because he has proven his ability to compete with those in the MLB.
However, the Cubs could be using the outfield as an excuse to keep Bryant in the minors to start off the season, even if they don't plan to use him there in the future.
