Bryant: “Everybody in this clubhouse would want to finish their careers with this team — myself included.”
After Nolan Arenado signed his extension with the Rockies earlier this spring, Kris Bryant found a group of reporters waiting for him at his locker. The same happened after Bryce Harper inked his free-agent pact with the Phillies.
So, on Tuesday morning, as word spread that Mike Trout had agreed to a 12-year extension worth nearly $430 million, a still-sleepy looking Bryant was once again greeted in the clubhouse by a pack of media.
There are a few reasons for Bryant seemingly having a tractor beam for these topics.
With Arenado, it was a case of a player at the same position getting a lengthy deal before free agency. Getting Bryant’s reaction was natural. Beyond that, he is the Cubs’ player rep, so his views on external events and their impact on the market and players’ thinking is pertinent.
In the case of Harper, well, that’s his good friend. And, if Bryant decides to hit the open market after the 2021 season, he now has someone close to him who he can lean on to discuss the ins and outs of the free-agency process.
And with Trout, well, it’s just another example of a star player getting a mammoth deal and — in this case — having the chance to stay with one team for his entire career. It’s natural to wonder if Bryant, who is reaching the window conducive for extension talks, would like to wear Cubbie blue as long as possible.
But, with all of that said, Bryant has grown a little fatigued of being the voice of reaction for every monetary decision made elsewhere.
“I’m just getting tired talking about this stuff,” he said with a smirk. “It’s really boring. I just want to play baseball.”
Bryant then chuckled to himself.
“I just said boring again,” he added. “That’s not cool. That’s just my vocabulary. Gosh.”
Here are the highlights of Tuesday’s Q&A with Bryant.
Q: Do you view Mike Trout’s contract as a good sign for the game?
KB: “Someone just told me. It’s kind of funny. It’s like there’s going to be no free-agents. Everybody’s signing with their teams, so there’s going to be no free-agents to fight over. I don’t know. It’s been kind of a strange offseason in that regard, where everybody’s just signing early extensions. But, geez. He’s doing well. It’s pretty cool to see that. He deserves every penny of it and more. I mean, the guy’s been the best player in baseball. He’s probably one of the best baseball players ever. I don’t even think there’s anything to question about him signing that deal. He obviously likes it in L.A. And now he’s there forever. That’s pretty cool. I’m happy for him.”
Q: Have their been any talks with you this spring about an extension?
KB: “There just hasn’t been any talk. I think Tom [Ricketts] has a focus of going with what we’ve got now and seeing how things are going to play out at the end of the year. Obviously, he’s the guy running the show. It’s his team. So, I don’t think there’s been any talks with anybody. I think it’s just kind of a different period for us this year. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just, go out there and win and focus on this year rather than get ahead of ourselves and sign everybody to extensions.”
Q: Angels ownership bought the franchise for $180 million. Does that show how much baseball is thriving?
KB: “Yeah. That’s crazy. Mike Trout could buy that team now — two of them, if it was that price. It’s good. The game’s gone in the right direction. There’s a lot of things people want to change and stuff, but hopefully it only makes the game better. But, yeah, it’s good to see it going this way. Everybody’s making money at the end of the day.”
Q: Have you talked to Harper since he signed?
KB: “I texted him and congratulated him and told him he’s going to love it and eat a lot of cheesesteaks and all that, which he probably will. I love cheesesteaks.”
Q: Have you reached the point in Spring Training where you’re antsy to start the season?
KB: “Yeah. this is the time you kind of show up and nobody’s in the locker room, because the team is here. That’s a good feeling, knowing that we’re getting that much closer to Opening Day. We’re going to make the most of these next, whatever, 10 days and get the most out of our at-bats. I think we’re just all excited to get going and get in the routine of playing a game every day and all that, rather than the practicing for it. And the other stuff that comes with Spring Training. We’re all excited to move past that and just get playing baseball.”
Q: There aren’t a lot of players who can stay with one team for their entire career. Trout’s going to have that chance now. Would you like to be one of those guys with the Cubs?
KB: “Absolutely. I think anytime you can show a loyalty to the team that drafted you and you came up with and you established relationships with all these people, any human being would want to do that. It’s no secret that everybody in this clubhouse loves playing in Chicago. We love everything about the organization. Everybody in this clubhouse would want to finish their careers with this team — myself included.”
Q: Has your view on becoming a free-agent changed at all in light of the way the market has gone over the last two years?
KB: “Well, like I said earlier, I think if everybody keeps signing extensions, there’s going to be no free-agents. So, maybe if I’m the only one, more teams will want me.
(laughter)
KB: “No, but I mean, I don’t think it changes my mindset. I’ve always been really good at just focusing on the season at hand and not getting too ahead of myself. I’ve always said that I think when you get too ahead of yourself, that kind of affects your performance and your thoughts and I don’t want to get there. I think it would be a disservice to everybody here and the fans if I’m starting to think about my whole future. I want to focus on winning this year, because last year didn’t go the way we wanted it to, and I want to do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen again. I’m 100 percent here this season and that’s all that matters to me.”
Q: What was your biggest takeaway from going to the Bulls-Suns game on Monday night?
KB: “How big they are. Geez. When you’re that close to them… I don’t know how they just get shots up. The dude’s like 7'5” and his hands… you’ve got to jump. It’s just unbelievable how tall they are. Whole new appreciation for the skill that they have. Also, the rotation on the shot when they shoot is like perfect. Mine’s like knuckle-balling out there. It’s just not good. It was fun to experience that. Hopefully the Bulls turn it around. I think they’ve got a lot of good players. I got to meet a bunch of them. Zach [LaVine] is awesome. All their coaching staff, they were all great. I hope to have a lot of them out at Wrigley this year.”
Q: We saw the video of you trying to dunk. How many attempts did it take to finally get one?
KB: (laughs) “It was three. I missed all three and then I finally got one. I was like getting this high off the ground. It wasn’t very good. Fun off-day, for sure. I really enjoyed it.”
Q: Earlier this spring, you were focusing on an adjustment with your swing, making sure your back elbow was close to your body. How do you feel you’ve done with that over the past few weeks?
KB: “I don’t know if it’s an adjustment. It’s just more of a swing thought that I know that, when I go good, that’s what I’m thinking, that’s what my swing’s producing. I don’t think it’s an adjustment. It’s just something that I’ve done.. But, it feels good. It’s like, when I rollover a ball, I know what I did wrong. I’ve got to stay through with my back elbow. It’s nice when you know your swing to a point that, if you do something that you don’t like, you know exactly what happened. Whereas, I don’t have to go to the video and search for what happened. I just felt it. I know what happened. And I can fix it on the next swing.”
Q: You were confident that you were healthy at the start of spring and that you wouldn’t have any issues with the shoulder. That said, were you able to answer some questions for your self throughout the course of camp?
KB: “Yeah, yeah. There’s just no hesitation, which is a great thing. I don’t have to go up to the box wondering, ‘Is this swing going to hurt or is this one going to not?’ I’ve taken some great swings. I’ve taken some very awful swings. And everything has responded the way it had before the injury. So, that’s really all that matters to me, knowing that I can swing at a changeup down and in and foul it off and maybe make an awkward swing at it, and I don’t feel anything. That’s it. I’m not worried. There’s no worry in my mind whatsoever. That’s the biggest thing in this camp. Obviously, I wanted to get out there and get some hits and hit some balls hard. The focus was just, ‘Let’s see how my shoulder responds to just getting at-bats over and over again.’ It’s been great.”
— JB
