The 2015 MLB season will kick off next Sunday when the Chicago Cubs host the St. Louis Cardinals. There has been one lingering question surrounding the Cubs' Opening Day roster, which is whether top prospect Kris Bryant will be with the team or not. Here's what Cubs' president Theo Epstein had to say.
Epstein made an appearance in the ESPN broadcast booth last night during the team's game against the Los Angeles Angels and spoke to Curt Schilling about the Bryant situation. Fans, pundits, players and others believe Bryant should be on the Opening Day roster because of his dominant performance in spring training, but Epstein doesn't see it that way. He's been in a power position since 2002 (when he was 28 years old) and has seen a number of these scenarios unfold.
"I think it's very rare that teams take the 25 best players, the 25 most talent players [on Opening Day]," Epstein told Schilling. "You remember from your years in the Boston Organization that there was a spring training when Hanley Ramirez put on a show ... he was probably one of our nine best position players, but he needed more seasoning and went out to Double-A."
He also alluded to similar cases with Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz - all of whom turned out to be not so bad in the MLB.
"It's just commonplace for players to complete their development. The way we've done it in Boston for 10 years and the way we've done here for three years, the most talented players, the best players, it's not always the right time for them. They need to complete their development and they have things to learn in the minor leagues. I'm not talking about Kris because we haven't made that decision yet. I'm just speaking generally. There's something to be said for doing player development the proper way, seeing it through in the minor leagues."
Epstein has been in a decision-making position for many years and has a preference with how he handles his up-and-coming players.
"I like to call guys up for their major league debut in the middle of the season when they're in the flow of the game, the grind of the season, they're comfortable. I've never put a young prospect on an Opening Day roster who hadn't played in the big leagues previously. In 13 years I haven't done it, and I'm not saying I'd never do it, but the general rule, the presumption, is to allow those guys to go out, play, get comfortable, get in rhythm and then come up when we hand pick just the right moment for them to have success."
He also acknowledged that there is no right answer to how such situations are handled, but the team has their own philosophy that they plan to follow and keep intact.
"We have a certain way of breaking players into the big leagues. I'm not always right. This game is so unpredictable, it's imperfect, and we don't think we have it figured out. The second you think you have it figured out it will humble you in a hurry, but the track record, the way we do things, is we like guys to get off in the minor leagues and get comfortable. In Kris' case he has missed some time this spring. He hasn't had a ton of reps defensively at third base and he has one full professional season under his belt. I know you think it's about the business side of the game, but we haven't even gotten there because we are focusing on the baseball part of the game and his development."
Epstein does have a strong point. Bryant has played a total of 174 minor league games since being drafted No. 2 overall in the 2013 June Amateur Draft, including 138 games last season during his breakout campaign. For comparison, fellow prospects who were called up last season - Javier Baez and Arismendy Alcantara - each have logged many more games in the minors before their promotions. Baez played in 319 games since 2011 while Alcantara compiled 530 since 2009. The only exception would be Jorge Soler, who played in 163 games, but that was because injuries significantly hampered his ability to stay on the field.
We'll see what the consensus on Bryant will be in the very near future.
Here's the full video of Epstein clearing the air on Bryant.
