Kris Bryant's fate has Scott Boras, Cubs fans atwitter
MESA, Ariz. - It began to simmer last fall, started to boil over the winter, and Wednesday afternoon, Mount Boras erupted.
Powerful agent Scott Boras, realizing the Chicago Cubs have no intention of keeping rookie third baseman Kris Bryant on their opening day roster, could no longer conceal his feelings.
He went off, accusing Cubs ownership of hoarding money instead of trying to win.
"You are damaging the ethics and brand of Major League Baseball,'' Boras tells USA TODAY Sports. "Kris Bryant has extraordinary skills. Kris Bryant is a superstar. He has distinguished himself from all players at every level he's played.
"Everybody in baseball is saying he's a major-league player ready for the big leagues. I have players call me. Executives call me. The Cubs' people want him there. Everyone says, 'They cannot send this guy down.' It's too obvious.
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"This isn't a system choice. This isn't a mandate. This is a flat ownership decision. Do they really want to win here?''
Boras, who represents baseball's greatest prospect, was just getting started during a 30-minute rant against executive chairman Tom Ricketts and Cubs ownership. He rattled off 16 of the greatest players in the game who had fewer at-bats than Bryant at the Class AAA level, or even skipped it altogether, and were still called up to the big leagues, some who helped their team reach the postseason within a year.
While Boras' job is to protect his players, negotiate their contracts, and voice their concerns, this time he may be speaking for a lot of frustrated Cubs fans.
They've watched and read about the major-league leading six home runs Bryant has hit this spring, let alone the 30 total bases, .435 batting average, .500 on-base percentage and 1.304 slugging percentage.
And yes, they know the 43 home runs in 2014 for USA TODAY Sports' Minor League Player of the Year were more than anyone in baseball.
To the Cubs' legion, he finally represents hope that generations of misery are over.
They couldn't care less if it costs the Cubs a few extra million in salary arbitration, or whether it would permit Bryant to depart a year early in free agency. They've waited long enough. They want to win right now.
The Cubs front office and coaching staff hear the noise, and now are asking everyone to pump their brakes, take a deep breath, and chill.
Bryant won't be on the Cubs' opening day roster, but you know what? It's going to be OK. This won't set the Cubs back another century. It doesn't mean the Cubs aren't still trying to win the NL Central.
The Cubs simply believe that Bryant needs more defensive seasoning at Class AAA Iowa. He has also been bothered by shoulder fatigue that has kept him from playing third base since last Thursday, and will sideline him at least until Thursday. This has nothing to do with money or future earnings, Cubs president Theo Epstein says - it's a genuine baseball decision.
"Ownership doesn't have anything to do with it,'' Epstein told USA TODAY Sports. "We're making an organizational decision. And I'll be the one, as president of baseball operations, making the decision.
"You never have a second chance to promote somebody the first time. You want to make sure they're in the right place. In Kris' case, we know he's ready offensively, we just want to get him in a good rhythm defensively.
"We do a better job at player development than we do strategizing on how to save a few dollars here and there. That's what we want to be all about. We don't think we screwed him up, and we don't think we're going to.''
Sure, Epstein and the Cubs realize that keeping Bryant in the minors for at least 12 days will assure he won't have the service time to become eligible for free agency until after the 2021 season. If they keep him in the minors until June, it will save them millions by not granting an extra year of salary arbitration.
Financially, it makes all the sense in the world.
Competitively, it makes no sense.
The Cubs are a large-market team, Boras reminds you, that will be receiving billions in revenue once they have their regional TV contract in place. Besides, he says, haven't the Cubs told the world they plan to contend this year?
"The fact that this player is so talented that you're worried about what you're going to do with him seven years from now,'' Boras says, "gives you an idea about this value to the team.
"So stop saying this is the system. If this was a losing team, OK, it's not prudent to bring him up. But Tom (Ricketts) talks about this team being ready to win now. And if you're ready to win, you've got to give them every resource to do it.
"The Cubs haven't had a pennant since 1945, so why worry about something six years from now. Other owners, when given the choice, have done this. Why not give yourself a chance to win, too?''
Boras' discontent actually started last fall when Bryant wasn't included among their September call-ups, despite his status as the minor leagues' consensus best player.
"He certainly believes he should have been in the big leagues last September,'' Boras said, "and he certainly believes that if his spring performance is among the best 25 players, he should be in the big leagues now.
"What this spring has illustrated is that he should have been in the big leagues last September. He could have gotten his seasoning then. Major League Baseball fans missed something. They missed the opportunity to see this man perform, and the Cubs missed the opportunity to get him acclimated and established for 2015.''
Once again, Epstein says the decision not to call up Bryant had nothing to do with future earnings, but maintaining his confidence. It was his first full season. He played 138 games. Epstein thought he had enough.
"When we talked after the season,'' Epstein said, "he was really happy how he held up physically, but he's an honest kid, and said that he was little mentally drained from the grind of the long season. I think it was the right thing, let a guy go through his first full season, and feel good about the numbers he put up.
"Now, with a full year under his belt, we think he's really close to the big leagues. We think it will happen this year. We just don't know when.''
Bryant, of course, is the man caught in the middle. He's quite likable, and a rather mature 23-year-old. Even if he wanted to vent, he knows he can't. He's a rookie without a single day of big-league experience. He'll let his play do all of the talking.
"I tune it out,'' Bryant said. "It's kind of getting old for me now. I'm just trying to go out there and play baseball. If they see me as one of the top 25 guys at the end of spring, I'll be out there. That's all I can do, really.
"I understand there are certain rules you abide by, and this isn't any different.
"I'm just trying to make it hard on them. Have fun. Do it with a smile on my face. And really remember why I'm playing this game.''
Maybe one day, perhaps after the next collective bargaining agreement in 2016, this will no longer be an issue. Maybe call-ups will simply be a matter of playing ability and not economics. Perhaps there will even be a system in place, Boras suggests, that if you are sent down, an arbitration panel can determine whether you would still get major-league service time.
For the Cubs, other issues are at the forefront.
"I've always believed this with a young guys with a lot of expectations that if you have a chance to start in Triple-A and get it going, and then show up,' Cubs manager Joe Maddon says, "it's a lot easier sometimes. When a guy comes up and just goes from Jump Street and struggles and he's never struggled before, sometimes that can get in the way.
"A lot of times they recover, but sometimes it retards the recovery. There's different dynamics working here all the time. But it's never a perfect world. You just got to make your best guess."
The best guess?
Bryant will open the season at Class AAA Iowa, and called up to the big leagues by the end of April, where he'll remain all season.
And if the Cubs just so happen to miss the playoffs by a game or two, oh, boy, let the screaming begin.
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