Is Scott Boras Going to File a Grievance If Kris Bryant is Sent Down? And Other Bullets

Mar 22, 2015

If you were wondering about that signed Anthony Rizzo bat that I bought for a contest … that contest starts tomorrow. And it’s actually a much bigger contest than just one signed Anthony Rizzo bat. So stay tuned.

MLB.com, which has been so on the ball with video highlights this Spring (please keep it up in-season, MLB – it’s very, very good for the sport to make the best highlights easily and quickly spreadable), has video of Kris Bryant’s two homers yesterday, even though the game wasn’t televised:

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It was a little harder to tell on the videos folks captured themselves, but that first one off of Felix Hernandez was an absolute bomb. So high, so deep. And the second one, it looked like Bryant barely swung, and it still went way out. The way he uses his body to generate power (with a swing that appears to be perfectly calibrated to best take advantage of that power) is truly incredible.

David Price is impressed:

I've told myself to not tweet about Kris Bryant but I can't help it…wow man!! His homers are my BP hitting from 2nd base…and I got POP!
— David Price (@DAVIDprice24) March 21, 2015

Something something you could be his teammate for the right price something something.

Scott Boras, however, remains unimpressed:

No one would be surprised if Scott Boras files a grievance to get Kris Bryant this full year's service time, and alter "the system."
— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) March 22, 2015

I would not be surprised at all, and not just because Boras has been griping all week. Boras has hated this system, openly and thoughtfully, for a long time, and there probably won’t be a better situation to try and challenge the system in the coming years than this one right here. So, no, a grievance wouldn’t surprise me (though I hate the idea of pitting the Cubs and Bryant against each other), but I also don’t think it would go anywhere. There remain plausible baseball reasons for sending Bryant to Iowa (defensive work or adjustments to a new position (if he moved to OF), first experience playing in the cold (better at Iowa than in Chicago), even insane Spring Training stats aren’t necessarily meaningful, etc.), and the system has been collectively bargained. That’s a lot to overcome to win a grievance.

As for Bryant, technically he could still make the team, and he just keeps dropping the most Bryant-y quotes ever (CSN): “I’ve said it all along, I’m playing with a chip on my shoulder. But at the same time having fun. You really can’t beat baseball right now with the sun shining.” This guy. He’s pretty much going to be the easiest player for everyone to love in the history of time.

One more from Gammons, not about Bryant:

John Malee says Jorge Soler hasn't swung at a pitch out of the strike zone all spring. Scary good. May be best of Cubs lot right now
— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) March 21, 2015

Like Arismendy Alcantara, Soler is getting almost no attention this Spring, presumably because he’s not struggling and he’s not Bryant. And that’s fine. Soler is a freakbeast, and will have plenty of time this year to show what he can do.

written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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