The Cubs will promote top prospect Kris Bryant to the Major Leagues for tomorrow’s game against the Padres, reports Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago (on Twitter).
The 23-year-old Bryant was the No. 2 pick in the 2013 draft out of the University of San Diego and entered the season ranked as MLB’s No. 1 prospect according to both Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law. MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus ranked the third baseman second and fifth overall, respectively.
The timing of Bryant’s promotion isn’t exactly a surprise. Chicago generated some controversy by beginning Bryant in the Minor Leagues this season, but the move made sense for the team in the long term. By keeping Bryant in the Minors for the season’s first 12 days, he’ll fall one day shy of accumulating a full year of Major League service this season. While that means he will assuredly qualify as a Super Two player and be eligible for arbitration four times instead of the standard three, it also buys the team an additional year of club control. At the end of the 2020 season, Bryant will have five years, 171 days of Major League service time — assuming he is not optioned back to Triple-A at any point — leaving him a day shy of being eligible for free agency. In simpler terms, the Cubs opted to delay Bryant’s promotion by 12 days in order to extend their control over the phenom for an additional season.
Of course, the Cubs won’t acknowledge that as the reason for Bryant opening the year in Triple-A, nor should they. While the motives behind the decision are widely known, coming out and saying it would provide concrete fuel for a grievance from Bryant and agent Scott Boras. As MLBR’s Tim Dierkes noted earlier today, some teams have taken the plunge and allowed top prospects to break camp with the club, but it’s rarely, if ever, worth it for the team from a baseball standpoint. And there are plenty of other prospects who not-so-curiously open the year in Triple-A only to be promoted once enough time has passed to extend the team’s control by a year or to potentially prevent a player from reaching Super Two designation and entering arbitration an extra time.
While in some cases, the whole situation is mitigated by agreeing to a long-term contract that extends into a player’s free agent seasons, that was a highly unlikely outcome with the Boras-represented Bryant. Boras typically encourages his players to go year-to-year through the arbitration process and test free agency as early as possible. While there are a few notable exceptions, including Jered Weaver, Carlos Gonzalez and Carlos Gomez, the Cubs likely knew that their odds of controlling Bryant beyond the 2020 season without ponying up on a sizable free agent contract were slim. Boras outspokenly challenged the Cubs on their spring decision with Bryant, noting that it makes little sense for the team to claim it is trying to win while leaving a young player who could very well be one of the best on the team. In fact, in Boras’ mind, the question was not one of why Bryant may have to begin the season in the Minor Leagues, but rather one of why Bryant wasn’t promoted last September when rosters expanded.
From a statistical standpoint, it’s hard to say that Boras doesn’t have a case. Bryant annihilated Minor League pitching in 2014, hitting a ridiculous .325/.438/.661 with 43 home runs in 138 games between Double-A and Triple-A. This spring, he batted .425/.477/1.175 with nine home runs in 40 at-bats. And to begin the year in Triple-A, Bryant hit .333/.379/.625 with a pair of homers in 29 plate appearances — and that was before going deep with a three-run homer tonight. The Cubs cited a need to work on his defense, and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein accurately noted that he’s never had a prospect break camp out of Spring Training if it meant making his Major League debut on Opening Day. That reasoning appeared questionable at the time and looks transparent when juxtaposed with the convenient timing of his promotion, though the Cubs can point to the fact that both Mike Olt and Tommy La Stella are on the disabled list, creating a need at third base.
Bryant figures to step into an everyday role at third base or, potentially, in a corner outfield spot with the Cubs, hitting in the heart of their order. Few doubt that he’s ready to hit Major League pitching right now, and he adds to the Cubs’ growing young core. The Cubs are hoping that Bryant, along with the likes of Jorge Soler, Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro and Addison Russell, among others, will lead the team back to prominence and break a World Series Championship drought — the Billy Goat curse — that spans more than 100 years. The team spent aggressively this offseason to add Jon Lester to the top of a rapidly improving rotation that also features breakout star Jake Arrieta, and expectations are high already in 2015. Many are expecting the Cubs to make the playoffs this season, and Bryant would be a vital component of a playoff berth. In the unlikely event that the Cubs miss the playoffs by a single game, there will unquestionably be some second-guessing about the decision to hold Bryant in Triple-A to begin the year.
Whether or not one agrees with the Cubs’ tactics, they are not the first, nor will they be the last team to employ this method with a highly regarded prospect. There are clear long-term benefits from a baseball operations standpoint, and it’d be hard to justify having brought Bryant north with the team, in retrospect, at the end of the 2020 season if he were eligible for free agency entering his age-29 campaign.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Watch him miss leading the league in HR’s by one.
who cares really? If he is that good he’ll win it in 2016
Scott Boras…. yeah, that’s the entire list.
“That one homerun would’ve gotten me – I mean him – tens of millions in arbitration and free agency! Teams would’ve been offering double if he had that ONE extra homerun!”
The Cubs are so cheap. What’s 20 million dollars saved and a guaranteed year of his services to a baseball team anyway??????? …….Poor Scott Boras will be cheated out of his 15% of 20 million by those stingy Cubs. What a travesty!!!!!!!
That one year might mean a lot , i mean its like 5 years away .. we can’t really speculate right now
Or the Cubs miss the playoffs by one game !!
The Cubs are in 1st place. Having Bryant on the team for those first 8 games would not have made a difference.
That doesnt make sense : I was talking about the playoffs , not the first 8/9 games … It’s easy to say that “not a difference ” now but end of September is when we’ll all find out!! And it was a joke !
And suddenly, that whole spiel about starting him in the minors for “seasoning” shapes up to be just what we all knew it was:posturing. Good for Bryant though, hope he tears the cover off the ball for the Cubs this year. And no, I’m not blaming the Cubs for their decisions, they could have just saved their breathe, a simple “Team decisions are made by the FO, nobody else” would have sufficed.
Luckily, they can get away with it since both of their 3B are injured right now.
They have some infielders who are injured, and they were carrying an extra reliever. A reliever just got injured too.
So there is plenty of plausible deniability.
uh, did anyone really believe it wasn’t posturing?
Surprisingly, yes, some people did.
No one believed it. It was just a whole lot of people playing devil’s advocate.
I am not entirely blaming the Cubs on this matter – even though other teams taking different approaches sometimes (Red Sox : Bradley jr.), but this loophole is a joke. Bryant magically learned within 2 weeks everything he needed to in order to be with the big club.
The guy deserved to be on the roster right away. And MLB/Union need to insert language into the next CBA to prevent things like that from happening. It’s bad image for everyone. nobody looks good on this very subject.
So you would rather lose him one year earlier just so he could play 8-9 games?
i think he’s more taking issue with the silly rule that forced this issue in the first place. 1 year of service time should be 1 season… not all but 9-10 games of one. It’s one of those oh-so-easily-exploited rules anybody should have seen the problem with from the get go.
No matter what service time you use as a cutoff, the same “loophole” will exist. Instead of holding him out for 9-10 games, they hold him out for 23-24 games of 47-48 games.
Get rid of the super 2 rule, once you appear in 3 seasons (not including September callups) you become arb eligible.
Thats how they would have to do it if they wanted to get rid of any loophole i would think.
That’s a good idea actually. There is still technically a “loophole,” but it comes at a more significant cost. If the player isn’t on the 25-man roster before September call-ups, they’re ineligible for the playoffs. I like it.
Any good GM can get around this by putting a player on the disabled list– the Angels won a World Series with K-Rod when he was a September callup.
If the cut-off was longer it would remove the incentive to hold the player back. For example, if the rule was that a year of service time accrues for any player on the 25 man roster for more than 30 days (excluding playoffs) in a given season, teams would have little reason to delay a callup.
It’s the Cubs not the Rays. It’s not like they won’t be able to afford his extension should he be deemed worthy of one in 6 years time. He will more than likely be extended anyway. This is all much ado about nothing.
Why would he be extended still? He is still a Scott Boras client and if he is going to have as great as a season as many fans want to believe, he is going to cost a boatload of money. Like Miguel Cabrera money and in FA there will be the usual big name groups that could be looking for his services (especially if he enters as young as he would without the extra year of control) who could outbid the Cubs.
There is absolutely no way he is going to have as great a season as many fans want to believe unless he suddenly into Hank Aaron in his prime.
You seem to be jumping the gun just a bit with the Miguel Cabrera comparison. At this moment, he is just as likely to be Delmon Young or Ben Grieve as Miguel Cabrera.
Isn’t Bryant already like 23 ? I’m pretty sure Miggy came up at like 19 so I don’t know if he’s a great comparison
Lol , also i just looked it up and it turns out it’s Cabrera’s birthday today (Apr 18)
The problem is ownership is not going to give that rule up very easily, it’ll take concessions from the Players Association that may make it unworthy to pursuit, as ridiculous as it is.
the owners can give up this loophole in exchange for the death of the Super-2 rule… that would massively simplify the entire service time system.
I would think the owners would want the super-2 rule, no?
super-2 is the rule that lets some players reach arbitration earlier, therefore making them more expensive… so i can’t see why the Owners would want it.
So where is the cutoff? A guy plays a season and a half. Should that count as 1 season or 2 seasons for arbitration purposes. I am pretty sure the super-two, even the full mlb season number (172) benefits players not owners. It benefited players like Jason Heyward. But owners get around it easily by delaying promotion. Kind of like rich people getting around taxes
Considering the owners have long wanted an international draft (Selig said about two years ago to look for in 2017) and the MLBPA has long stated their displeasure with this rule each side has a bargaining chip. I would say the chances of concessions from each party in these areas is most likely.
Selig said an international draft was coming the day he took office 20 some-odd years ago. But it’s not an MLBPA issue so much as it is an issue with the baseball federations of the other countries… who don’t want it because it limits the money their citizens can make.
Tell me how the DR or Venezuelan federation would “oppose” an international draft? MLB is a US based industry, they can do whatever they want. It’s not like they are “forcing” foreign ball players to sign with MLB teams
I would have to assume that some of the PA wants an international draft as much as ownership, I know multiple players have voiced their displeasure in the sizable signing bonuses international players have received while domestic signees aren’t always so lucky. But it’s an interesting point to bring up.
Olt and LaStella are on the DL. That’s why he’s being called up tomorrow. Instead of, you know, next week.
Regarding the service time “loophole”, there has to be a cut-off. There has to be. Whether it’s one day, or 11 days, or 100 days, there will be a cut-off date. And smart teams will always try to do what is best for the organization. It is in the best interest of the Chicago Cubs to have Bryant under team control for 6.9 seasons rather than 6.0.
Again, not accusing the Cubs. IIRC from his Red Sox days, Theo is known for this, he pretty much did this on a regular basis.
It’s just one of the most blatant circumvention in the most recent past.
But it’s a mockery of the game if you ask me and it needs to stop. What will the player think? My own franchise keeps me down just to get the upper hand in upcoming contract negotiations with me?
Of course a cutoff date needs to be defined, but a few days as a trade off for a whole year of control? Sounds like a no brainer decision to me. Need to make it tougher for teams to make up their minds in certain cases.
Look…..
Unless all players can be free agents the day they make the major leagues, someone is going to get shorted no matter how future free agency is agreed to. And even without a cutoff date, a guy like Boras will start complaining that his client is being held in the minors too long.
These arguments are silly.
Actually, Boras loves that players are held down….just not his. If all players were free agents the day they elected to come into professional baseball, and if they were free agents as soon as whatever contract they had in effect ran out, then he wouldn’t have the leverage he does for his clients now. He’s getting outrageous salaries for his free agents that are good, but hardly franchise cornerstones (start with Choo). If teams had a better selection of free agents to choose from, they would be giving the big money to the best players – not the ones that played out their option and have little competition in the marketplace.
Nobody held a gun to Jon Daniels head and forced him to sign Choo. It takes two to sign a bad contract. Boras is doing the job his clients pay him to do.
There’s nothing to “blame” the Cubs for. They did what dozens of other teams have done and held a highly regarded prospect in the Minors for a negligible amount of time in order to secure a non-negligible amount of control over said prospect.
It’s misguided to be mad at the Cubs. If anything, take issue with the structure of service time under the current CBA. As for Bradley Jr., were he as well-regarded as Bryant had been, he’d probably have been in the Minors to begin the year as well.
No one is going to celebrate that the Marlins opted to have Jose Fernandez break camp with the team in 2013 when he’s a free agent after the 2018 season. They’re going to wonder why Miami was willing to sacrifice a year of control over a Scott Boras client for five innings of work six years ago.
“No one is going to celebrate that the Marlins opted to have Jose
Fernandez break camp with the team […]”
No one? In fact, I am going to! Because it was a respectable move. They just might lose him a year earlier and it could cost them big time, but at least they did what was right. The player belonged…simple as that.
You might be right that JBjr wasn#t as highly touted as Bryant, but he lit up ST and was actually decent enough to be a top 30 prospect in baseball (correct me if i am wrong). Yet the Sox still kep him up. Because they cared about the fans and wanted to give them some highlights to start the year when it looked like the team was mediocre at best (nobody had them above 3rd/4th place in the east before the 2013 seasn started)
So even though it’s certainly “best for business”, I refuse to accept that it’s “misguided” to question the franchises that do those things, this time it just happens to be the Cubs.
You can’t play the “care about the fans” card, because it works both ways. Theo and Jed could easily make the case that holding Bryant down is the best move for the fans, because it guarantees an additional year of team control.
As for celebrating the Marlins’ decision with Fernandez, I doubt anyone, at the time, felt it was “right” of the team to bring a 20-year-old who’d never thrown an inning above Class-A with them. In hindsight, sure, it worked out, but at what cost? Five mediocre innings cost them a full year of Fernandez’s prime. That’s not doing right by the fans, nor is it a sound business decision. It benefits Fernandez and his agent (Boras) most significantly, and considering the whole debate is whether or not these players will get to free agency after 6 or 7 years, each will probably be doing just fine, financially speaking, by the time the free agent year in question comes around.
Again, I am not arguing that. This move will help out the Cubs for at least one more full year. And fans mostly care about winning, so they are also acting in favor of the fans.
But it’s a slap in the face of the game and the fans/viewers in general, not only Cubs-fans.
Maybe next year we will be talking about the next team that is “smart” about the rules. But this time it’s the Cubs and they deserve that fans are angry at them.
Look at the poll you created a few hours ago. I am not the only one who doesn’t agree with it.
Even looking back… Despite him having an awesome year and winning ROY. The Marlins’ bringing up Jose Fernandez was a bad move for the team. If I am a Marlins fan I would rather have Jose for an extra year than have him pitch 1 or 2 games in April, honestly.
Also, you could even argue they should have not only promote Bryant but sign him to a $200M extension, and while they are at it, extend Baez, Rondon, etc. You know, for the fans. Baseball is a business, don’t blame the team for making business decisions even if it upsets a few fans for 12 days
He only made one five inning start during that time period. If you want to trade 5 innings of Fernandez as a rookie for a whole year of a seasoned Fernandez you don’t deserve to talk about baseball
But it was a “respectable move”!!
So if the cutoff date was day 5, day 25, day 50 or any other day………..you and Boras would be crying. No matter how you look at it, there will be a set date as to when a players clock starts and it will be worked around when it makes sense. Get over it.
Then why not just be straight forward with it? Cubs danced around it when he got sent down a few weeks ago.
At least be honest and don’t make even more of a mockery out of it, it’s embarassing for the game that teams refuse to field the best possible team on certain dates. But I guess the Cubbies can afford it with all that success over the past decades.
Again, everyone’s doing it, I understand that. But this is just the latest saga on this matter.
The Cubs can do whatever they want as long as it’s within the rules, so they [MLB ; MLBPA ; CBA] need to make sure that there is not eneough upside for teams to keep its young star players in the minors longer than needed.
They weren’t allowed to be straight forward with it.
Being straight forward with it as you put it would lead to a hearing and a very strong case for boras
Due to the fact that people like Boras are gonna cry about it no matter what. Due to the fact that the media LOVES to stir the pot and get everyone worked up. There is NOTHING embarrassing about it. They would have been doing an injustice to the franchise and the fans if they didn’t handle this situation as they did. They guaranteed that Bryant would be with the team for one more year. That little loophole was not bargained in by the league……the players thought it was a way to accrue time faster. Do you really think the teams would say that a player gets more than a year of time in a season?
You sound more upset than Boras and Bryant himself. Chill out it was only 12 days.
Surprise Surprise!
I hope Bryant remembers (and calculates lost salary) when and if the cubs try to re-sign him.
Boras is his agent. If the Cubs offer the most money when he hits FA, he’ll stay with the Cubs. Boras isn’t gonna hold anything against the Cubs, he knows better than that.
He already got a nearly 7 million signing bonus. I think it is safe to say he made more than with that than if he had started on the opening day roster.
A long as he stays healthy and produces, some team is going to hand Krissy a contract for about $300 million over ten years.
He already has a seven million in the bank.
I have trouble finding pity for Kris.
I still don’t get why everyone is upset. This isn’t the first time this has happened. Its been going on for years now..
Because it’s the Cubs and we’ve been waiting forever. Some fans are impatient. Some don’t understand the business. Whatever the reasons may be I’m just glad the Cubs get an extra year of service time. And they’re in 1st place without him so Cubs fans can’t complain!
Starlin Castro was a super 2 guy if I remember correctly, no one complained then.
Hendry rushed him to the majors because he realized the Cubs were starting to do poorly and foresaw them not doing well for at least another couple years. He needed to give them some hope. Luckily Castro exceeded expectations and turned into an instant all star. With the exception of 2013, Castro has been one of the best Shortstops in baseball since his call up.
because everything the Cubs do is massively over-hyped these days… and i say that as a lifelong Cubs fan.
Top prospect + Cubs + Scott Boras + Bryant’s performance in Spring Training
So?
I guess he finally mastered his defense.
He made 2 errors in 15 chances during his 6 games.. lol
Yep, seems solid lol
Keep him down until super-two date… You know, to work on his defense
Or Mike Olt and Tommy La Stella are on the DL and they needed a 3rd baseman… Just happened to work out from a timing perspective.
Most people seem to act surprised that the Cubs said he needed to work on his defense. Not only was it a legitimate reason, but do you really think they’re going to come out and say “Yeah we want to keep him down 12 days to get an extra year out of him 6 years from now”? Probably not.
That excuse would have made more sense if you didn’t promote him after a lack luster defensive showing..
Small sample sizes. Obviously that isn’t an excuse to make errors, but their 2 3B men are also injured. They viewed Kris as the BEST option both short term and long term to call up now.
So he wasn’t the best option a week ago when Mike Olt and Tommy LaStella weren’t injuried? That would have been a circus if the Cubs said that.
He was. But now they have a legit excuse. They lucked out by having La Stella and Olt injured at this time. I don’t wish an injury upon any player, but this was the best possible time.
Considering Olt seemed to have reinvented himself last year at AAA and had a good Spring, it made sense to at least give Olt time to prove himself at 3B for a while, especially since a) Olt is naturally a superior (even a plus) defender at 3B, and b) there had always been talk about Bryant possibly being moved to the OF if Olt panned out.
Exactly. They wanted to season Bryant in the minors because his defense was a little shaky. Nothing wrong with that. NOW that their 2 3B men are injured, he is by far the best option even with his mediocre defense.
I don’t think anybody was surprised by the posturing, but it’s hard to claim it a legitimate reason when they call him up after exactly 12 days. They probably could have just said organizational decisions are to be left up to the Cubs FO and left it at that, but so be it. He’s up now and the fan-base is happy, that’s whats important.
It wouldn’t have been a legitimate reason if the Cubs hadn’t lost both of their 3B in a span of a day. At this point, your option is to either call up Bryant or play Hererra at 3B every day.
Let’s be honest, if there was ever a time an injury helped the PR situation, it’s now. But like I said, no blame for the Cubs, it’d be bad business not to hold him down for the time allotted.
The posturing just further supports Boras’ reputation as an agent who “fights” for his players and will “go the extra mile” to maximize your earning potential. All of the grandstanding is and will always be for Boras, Bryant just happens to be the player.
ps. I don’t fault Boras, as he is the best at what he does.
still waiting on that highly touted prospect josh vitters to show up.
Josh Donaldson? No wait, they traded him. Josh Harrison? Nope, they traded him too. Luckily they kept the 3rd and best Josh — Josh Vitters.
Josh Donaldson was a nobody when they dealt him. Josh Harrison was a nobody up until last year. Can’t blame them for that.
They weren’t nobodies. They were valuable prospects. Just not as valuable as they are now…
The only reason Scott Boras cares is because he’s making less money from Bryant and that he’s getting attention from other players
Go Me!
Psst! My x-rays were faked.
someone in my league asked….what would happen if the cubs go into the post season, would that affect bryant’s service time?
Postseason isn’t included in MLB service time.
The Cubs just better hope they don’t end up in a 1-game playoff for a playoff spot.
Actually the 1-game playoff doesn’t count either. It’s only regularly scheduled game days. Since a 1-game playoff isn’t, it’s not counted as part of the service time.
Thanks Steve, alot of people waiting for the answer.
Finally. His fan faire reminded me of Prior’s ascent to the majors when every single start was reported in detail by Ron and Pat during broadcasts. Exciting times on the north side.
OK, if a tiebreaker is needed at the end of the season, isn’t that considered a regular season game and affect Bryant’s service time? Is that the only scenario that would affect his status?
It goes by days, not games…but according to someone below, it only counts regularly-scheduled regular season days.
One guy posted that a tie breaking game counts as a regular season (163rd) game and stats count as regular season. Also posted the proof from a site. I admit I am no expert when it comes to this kind of thing.
Yes it counts as a regular season game, but it doesn’t count toward service time. Like I said, service time is about regularly scheduled game DAYS, not actual games.
Good for the Cubs to circumvent this bogus timetable. The other 29 teams would’ve done the same thing.
The Dodgers didn’t with Pederson although they’d have to keep him down there for a few more weeks, but it is the smart thing to do for the Cubs.
Joc Pederson is not projected to be the star that Bryant is projected to be and an extra year of Pederson will not break the bank of Hollywood when that time comes. Pederson was brought up at the end of last year, so his clock had already started and he is in the line-up, but being brought along slowly hitting in the 8 hole whereas he could be hitting in a more vital spot otherwise. It may come down to the Dodgers had nobody really qualified to play centerfield this spring other than Pederson. Pederson was the only player who could be at least adequate defensively and have an adequate bat there and he has been showing. Without putting Pederson in there and him doing as well as he has so far, the Dodgers would really be stuck.
Pederson is the #14 prospect and Bryant the #2 according to MLB. They’re both projected to be a star. The Dodgers had Kemp, Etheir and Crawford who could man CF for at least a few weeks to buy time for Pederson. Close enough to the same scenario.
This one came out of left field.
Ah whatever. Forget I even tried…
That’s great news! As Carlos Gomez heads to the DL his replacement is called up to the majors!
Good, this is how it’s supposed to work. If the MLBPA (or anyone else) has a problem with how this was handled, they should bring it up the next time the owners and the player’s union negotiate.
The Cubs didn’t do anything cheap here. What’s cheap is agreeing to certain service time rules (as the MLBPA did) and then complaining when a team takes advantage of those rules.
Good luck to Bryant. He should be quite good.
Good for the kid, but what will everyone else complain about now?
White Sox and Rodón, Cubs and Russell, Mets and Syndergaard – plenty of teams to pick on.
Welcome to my fantasy team 🙂
How long before he gets sent down?
Do tie breaking games at the end of the regular season extend the baseball calender or not? I have read some reports that say if there is an extra day at the end of the season to determine playoff spots the regular season is extended and Bryant could earn his full year.
NO. They Don’t.
Those tie-breakers DO count as regular season games, but I don’t believe they count toward the service time clock.
Scott Boras will be available to make sure Bryant is in the starting lineup regularly.
How do you like them apples, Boras?
I don’t understand why fans get so invested in disparaging Scott Boras when the only thing he does is get his clients the most money possible.
Unless those clients are Drew and Morales. Then he gives them the short end.
I think Olt and La Stella not being on the DL creates an even bigger need at 3B
Olt will have to move to the DL with this move. He was just diagnosed with a small fracture and will miss three weeks.
LaStella is already on the DL, they brought up Rosscup in his place.
Mark Appel, where you at?!
AA
T. Walker of the Mariners dominated in spring training too. Since then, he has been shelled in his first 2 regular season starts. ……. Let’s see what Bryant does against consistent major league, regular season pitching, before we determine how much he would have helped the Cubs in their first 8 games.
What a debut!!! Those three strikes were impressive!!