Theo Opened the Box, if Baez or Bryant Are Non-signable, They Could Look to Trade Them

Gulp. I’m just going to allow you to see it from Theo Epstein’s mouth here (er… via quotes)…

“I look at both of those guys as incredible players who are huge parts of what we have going on here,’’ Epstein said. “They both have two years of control left. With both guys we’ve had some level of discussion with in the past about them trying to find an arrangement that would keep them as Cubs longer (than two years), and we’ll probably get around to doing that again this winter at some point. I’d love ‘em to be Cubs but again (with) all these players we have to be open-minded about it.’’
 
“Do you keep ‘em for the long term?’’ Epstein said, referring specifically to Bryant and Baez. “Do you just keep ‘em for two years? Or do you contemplate listening on trades for them. I look at them both the same. I think they’re fantastic players. I don’t think it’s mutually exclusive. I think they’re both hugely important. It would be hard to see them out of a Cubs uniform but we are at a transition point. You have to do what’s best for the Cubs. I hope it includes both those guys.’’

Theo Epstein on Monday afternoon

You can see the entire press conference here.

Theo Epstein addresses the media after the 2019 season concludes. https://t.co/9oTkIj7p6H

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 30, 2019

So, we have heard all over anywhere anyone is able to voice an opinion that the Cubs should seriously look into trading Kris Bryant. I haven’t heard many discuss trading Javier Baez though.

In all seriousness, I don’t think Theo is really wanting to trade either. I don’t think that he will be actively placing phone calls to other teams for either player. I do think he opened the door for every team in baseball to call him.

There was a short, quick line that Theo said when he was talking about his belief that there are untouchables. A line where he said it is hard enough to make a trade as it is, why would he limit the conversations he can have.

Now, will he actually do it?

I don’t know, but this will force Bryant to put his actions where his mouth is (is that how it goes?). During this past spring, Bryant had mentioned on a couple of occasions that he wants to spend his entire career in Chicago and wants to talk about an extension. Now, some of that could have been driven from the insane extensions that were being handed out last season, but I believe he actually would prefer to stay here and could take a reasonable deal to do so.

The guy that surprised me a bit was Baez. While I had always assumed the Cubs probing their players for interest in an extension, there hasn’t been news on them talking to Baez. What’s more, it sounded as if any conversation with Baez has resulted in a *no* from his camp.

In Baez’s defense, he recently broke out. His career trajectory was much different before the 2018 season. While the talent and the ceiling was there, the on-field results weren’t. Then, of course, he finished second in MVP voting in 2018 and was having a successful 2019 until he went down with a fracture in his thumb.

Accepting an extension pre-2018 would have been selling low, and Baez is very confident in himself. He knew he was capable of so much more, and in 2018 he showed the world what that *more* was.

If the Cubs approached him after 2018, well, he was on the upward path and the smart play, financially, was to hold off and back his 2018 up with another solid 2019.

Now that he backed it up, he is in line for a considerable raise and unless the Cubs back up a Brinks truck, he can test free agency and make a fortune.

The whole Bryant conversation is much more difficult. He’s a guy that won Collegiate Player of the Year, Minor League Player of the Year, NL Rookie of the Year, and MVP in consecutive seasons. He has the accolades, he has the leagues highest fWAR, he has been the best player on a team that has won 471 games since 2015 (second-most in the National League).

It’s maddening that there are fans that don’t appreciate what Bryant brings to the table. It’s a little more understanding that some don’t understand how to translate the value he brings into dollars. Fact is, he’s incredibly valuable, has a ton of talent, has yet to hit his peak performance.

I don’t know what each is worth, but they are both much more than $20 million a season players. I think Bryant’s deal should mimick Nolan Arenado’s deal. Arenado has an eight-year, $260 million deal that he received this past offseason.

For Baez, a guy that comes to mind as a comparison is the Houston Astros, Alex Bergman. He earned a six-year $100 million deal in March of this year.

The guidelines are there, the Cubs, if they value their guys know where they should be. The players know what to expect. I suppose if they can’t figure it out, regardless of where the breakdown occurs, it might be ok to entertain calls on either.