MLB Rumors: Chicago Cubs Demand Huge Price For Kris Bryant As Third Baseman Market Dwindles

The Chicago Cubs may have priced the market out of a trade for Kris Bryant as they are demanding a king’s ransom for the player and other clubs are being put off by their asking price even as the third baseman market dwindles.

Josh Donaldson remains as the last top-tier free agent third baseman on the market after Anthony Rendon and Mike Moustakas signed with the Los Angeles Angels and Cincinnati Reds, respectively.

That has caused teams such as the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers to look to the trade market to fulfill their needs at the hot corner. They have been in contact with the Colorado Rockies over Nolan Arenado and the Cleveland Indians over Francisco Lindor.

Another player who has gained some interest is Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs. While he is less of a high-profile player as Arenado and Lindor, Bryant is still a quality major league third baseman with a lot of baseballs left in him as he is only 27.

However, the Cubs may be pricing every other club out of a move for Bryant due to their asking price. That is according to David Kaplan of NBCSports Chicago who spoke with an unnamed former MLB general manager about the situation.

“The Cubs' asking price for Bryant is a joke,” said the former executive, “I like Bryant but he is not a Top 30 player in baseball in my opinion. He is mediocre at best as a defender at third base. His swing has changed dramatically since 2016 and I question if he is truly 100% healthy.”

Bryant did look like one of baseball’s elite players back in 2016 when he helped the Cubs to their first World Series since 1908. That season, he batted .292 with 39 home runs and 102 RBIs but his numbers have crept down every season since then.

He has only bested the batting average once, in 2017, and has only reached the 30-home-run mark once since then, in 2019 when MLB saw a league-wide increase in power numbers and has driven in a maximum of 77 runs since 2016.

That is in addition to his on-going service time dispute with his current employers. Should Bryant win his arbitration case this winter, he will become a free agent after the 2020 season and would earn the Cubs far less on the trade market.

Even with a relative dearth of other options, the Cubs may have created a situation where they are the real losers. Should they not shift Bryant before the end of his contract, they could lose him for nothing to free agency.

However, he does not appear to be as attractive an option as GM Theo Epstein may think and they may be pricing themselves out of a deal by asking so much in return.