Although the Red Sox didn’t contend in 2020, they at least considered a blockbuster acquisition over the summer. They and the Cubs discussed a trade centering on third baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports. Those talks fizzled, so it’s unclear whether the two sides will revisit them this offseason.
Bryant has spent most of his career at third base, but as Gonzales notes, he’d be an outfielder in Boston. After all, the Red Sox already have Rafael Devers at the hot corner. They also have Alex Verdugo and Andrew Benintendi as corner outfield options, but the latter could head to center field in 2021 with Jackie Bradley Jr. currently on the free-agent market. That could leave room for a Bryant acquisition.
For Boston or any other team, Bryant would not be a long-term pickup unless he signs a contract extension. The 28-year-old is entering his last season of arbitration control, in which he’s projected to rake in $18.6MM. Considering how well the former NL MVP has performed for most of his career, that doesn’t look like an unreasonable sum. But the Cubs may be looking to part with Bryant after a pandemic-shortened year in which he endured uncharacteristic struggles. Bryant went through by far his least productive season, batting .206/.293/.351 (76 wRC+) with four home runs in 147 plate appearances, and now his Cubs tenure may be nearing an end.
Wow that would make the Red Sox a legit 4th best team in the al easy
East
Legit made me laugh. And I’m a Sox fan.
Discussed over the summer.
Why didn’t we hear that “rumor” then?
Trade KB already to whomever (not the White Sox)!
Sox aren’t dumb enough to trade for him lol.
The White Sox could use. The Cubs can have Leury Garcia, Danny Mendick and a seventh starter
No you were right. The AL easy
Easy solution…just send us back Devers and KB can play 3rd lol. Zero chance I know but Devers is so underrated.
No!!! Boston needs to keep devers yall can have benni
Devers needs to learn how to play 1st. Look at his errors historically even with Moreland at first 50% of the time.
50% of the time he catches it all the time. It’s science.
Red Sox are all set at 1B. They have Dalbec to hold it down until Casas is ready. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them re-sign Moreland for one more year too. Devers is being groomed as their primary DH once JDM is gone. I guess Dalbec could play 3rd & Devers 1st, but I’m not sure if Dalbec is ready to play full time given his high strike out rates. He’ll be much better as a platoon with Moreland.
I’m not gonna lie to you… That smells like pure gasoline
what are Bryant’s defensive metrics looking like? cuz last time i checked, Devers is hot garbage at the hot corner.
Bryant is decent at third. Might even be better in left.
Devers looks like a 1B/DH in the near future.
Devers at 1B, Bryant LF, Dalbec 3B is the best defensive 3Bman of the three (the question is – can he keep his strikeouts under 30 percent)
….and the deal only gets done if they sign Bryant to an extension…..
This was simply talk like all teams do. Does anyone really see Bloom giving up key parts of the team’s revamped system for anything but pitching?
Hell no.
It was not even worth reporting at this point…..a complete mote point.
Maybe KB good defensively when he isn’t on IL!
KBs metrics at 3rd and the eye test don’t match. He is below average and double clutches on nearly every throw.
He is tall and coordinated, so he can make a diving highlight play. But that is about it.
Who didn’t the Red Sox or any MLB team discuss last season?
Would he help of course but that would mean trouble for Devers. little competition never hurts
Since the Red Sux couldn’t even string together a starting rotation, I doubt they had any pitching chips to deal back to the needy Cubs. No deal, smell ya in the winter
They’re a 100 win team next season and you’ll be absolutely sobbing at how poorly your team does
Signed,
David Fletcher
Delude yourself much?
He meant organizational wise and assuming Worcester/Pawtucket and other minor league affiliates play in 21, cumulatively speaking, he’s right.
No I’m Angels utility infielder David Fletcher. They are a 112 win team. You are a sad troll.
No, I think he meant what he wrote,
How do you arrive at these opinions. Are you a Yankee fan?
This one feels a little sketchy. I assume that everyone discusses everyone. But Bryant to the RS makes little sense.
1-At what point in the summer did they discuss it? When Sale went down, it mostly killed any chance we had.
2-Again, if this was the summer, where was Bryant going to play? Benni was still playing on 8/11, They’d have only discussed Bryant at some point after 8/11, and at that point, the season was already lost.
3-At the same point in time where we were on a course for last place, the Cubs had the best record in baseball. Why would they trade Bryant at that point.
Discussing today makes 10x more sense than discussing it during the summer. And even today, it makes little sense. Unless this was kind of a barroom banter ‘what if’, I’m calling BS on this story.
I have a feeling Benintendi would’ve been part of the deal.
Because he was hitting .206??
This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Bloom knows that if 2021 is anything like 2020, he has the shelf life a bag of (opened) pretzels.
And “big winter trades” often get discussed the summer before; DD admitted he had proposed the Sale deal in the August before it was made.
Does KB make sense in Boston? Ya and no. Obviously he can’t pitch. But it’ll be a cheap acquisition (sorry Cubs fans, NOBODY wants to pay Bryant 18M). He’ll add some pop, move Bene to CF (so that everybody won’t notice if he doesn’t hit). MOST importantly, a trade like that will make some noise, and get the Faithful salivating.
Bloom has to learn to be BOLD, like his owner tells him. If you lose, get people talking about why you lost.
In 2020, nobody cared…can’t have it.
Bryant has 26 starts in LF in the past four years. Benni has 55 starts in CF in 5 years. It would be a defensive nightmare.
Why? They trying to make a run on the Orioles and fourth in the division?
I’m sure “if” they talked about him it was in any Betts trade that’s it sox don’t have anything worth trading for other than Devers who is most likely heading to a DH position
Why would the Red Sox want Bryant in a Betts trade?
Cub fan here. Bad year for bad year. Krissy for Benintendi who says no?
This doesnt really make all that much sense. I mean now in the off-season it might if they want to try and resign him. But last season mid-season? The Sox were terrible… why would they have been trying to add anyone, let alone someone Who’s pricetag would’ve presumably been really high? Idk I guess they could’ve discussed anything but I really don’t see how/why they would have been going after Bryant at any time during the year last year. Now, in the off-season, assuming they believe 2020 was just an outlier and he’ll be back to his regular self in 2021 and beyond… if they feel they can sign him long term I’d be all for trying to acquire him as long as the cost isn’t too high (prospect/player wise). They could certainly use a big bat like him in the lineup to make up for losing Mookie – and moving Benintendi (assuming he isn’t part of the trade) to CF and starting Bryant in LF would be a great option. Just not sure the match is really there for a trade, especially with the uncertainty of whether or not he’ll sign an extension. Maybe a scenario where they agree to a trade and have a window to negotiate an extension could work — but otherwise acquiring a player for one-year doesn’t seem to be a logical avenue for the Sox this off-season… even if they plan on being competitive next year, they aren’t just “one-piece” away from being WS contenders so they’d have to be planning on him being around long term to give up anything substantial in a trade.
Why would you trade for a Boras client when you are rebuilding and he is close to free agency that’s a terrible argument.
Sox have no room for Bryant unless they are going to include Chavis in the deal. The ONE spot the Sox do have some depth at is 3B with Devers already there { although he could move to 1B } and Casas only a year or so away. Devers is not going to DH either given that JDM has that spot now. Not to mention Dalbec and Chavis who are already on the MLB roster and both came up as 3B.
Also Bryant will be making 18.6 million in 2021 and then is a FA who will be looking for a monster deal. This would make little or no sense for the Sox even if Bryant was to play a decent LF–it would be only for 1 yr.
When are people going to realize the Sox need PITCHING !!! We have a pretty decent roster other than at the MOST IMPORTANT position. Let’s get in on Blake Snell who is said to be on the block even though Tampa is unlikely to deal him at all let alone an AL East rival. They will hang on to him for at least 1 more year { likely 2 given his contract} and then deal him after there is 2 more years wear on his arm probably for another highly rated pitching prospect. That is how Tampa does business.
I think this article is just filler. The Cubs may have talked to the Red Sox about Bryant, but he is not a Bloom trade target (NOT CONTROLABLE AND NOT CHEAP)! There was no more chance of this trade than Myers from San Diego……
Why not put Bryant at 1B? Could be a Gold Glover with move.
I don’t know what Bryant would bring to the Sox as playing LF in Fenway is way different than playing LF at Wrigley. However, i wouldn’t mind having Rizzo back if the two teams still want to trade
The rotation and bullpen need a major overhaul so lets trade for a slugger. Christ, it is the 1980’s all over again. Lets try to win games 11 – 10.
3B/1B/DH/LF is not where the Sox should spend big $$ or trade assets. They have Devers ,JDM, Dalbec, Chaivis, Beni and Tristan Casas at AAA. They can sign both Moreland and Pillar on 1 yr deals and use the $$$ saved/trade assets on pitching. With the modern slide rule I could even see Devers at 2b — he plays there in the shift anyway.
Bryant is a classic underperformer. No thanks.
If the Cubs are just looking to move KB’s salary and not ask for much in return, it might not be a bad option for Boston. Bryant would absolutely tattoo the green monster. He could easily hit 30 HRs and 40 doubles playing half his games in Fenway. It really comes down to if Boston is willing to exceed the CBT for one year as they need to invest in a lot of FA pitching this offseason.
You did not see KB last season, did you? When he was lucky enough to make contact (a rarity), the ball would rarely leave the infield.
It was as if he was literally swinging a copy of a soaking wet The Sporting News.
I almost don’t care where, for what return, etc., just trade Bryant already. He need a change; the Cubs need a change; do something already Cub’s FO!!!
This makes sense if boston see him as a buy low sell high canidate…any player like kris who is former mvp and for most of his career has been good still can hold value if he has a bounce back year..in boston that could be very possible that field would fit him nicely…so sox may see this as an chance to get him fairly cheaply cause we all know cubs dont wanna give him a huge deal…so maybe they try mid level prospects or like an young international prospect who needs years to develope and expect he will excel for half year flip him for a bigger prize at the trade deadline
Sounds like an attempted buy low. Doubt this creates anything this year
In some ways, I think Bryant might be last to go (out of the 2021 FA group). The Cubs might be inclined to let him start the season and cross their fingers he rebuilds some value for a deadline deal. Right now, it might be really hard for them to ask for a big return.
I wonder if the Yankees would have interest in an expanded trade including Schwarber and Contreras. They seem to be interesting in Kyle every year and they want an upgrade at catcher.
Schwarber would be good with that 285 ft RF fence in NY. Contreras is also an obvious fit. They want to get rid of the Stanton contract. Maybe if they pay off about half the contract we take Stanton. and some A ball prospects. Catcher is fine for the CHC. LF is wide open. 3B can be occupied by Bote and fill ins for a while.
The Cubs do not want Stanton back in that kind of trade.
Trade Kris Bryant to the Cardinals for Fowler, Carpenter and Carlos Martinez!!!