NEWSLETTER
Kris Bryant sought a little clarity on his situation when he arrived at Spring Training, and he left a meeting with the front office thereafter confident that he would be with the team on Opening Day. There are no GUARANTEES, of course, but it was high time for the Cubs to more or less commit to the club as constructed, and turn the page toward this being the group to try to have a hot first half of the 2020 season.
I don’t expect trade rumors to come up much in Spring Training, both because of that stuff, and also because major trades during Spring Training just don’t really happen. It’s culturally difficult. It’s financially difficult. And it’s hard for two teams to make sense of their rosters swapping major pieces at this time of the year.
That said, apparently a few teams haven’t entirely given up on the idea that Bryant could still be dealt this Spring.
Per Mark Gonzales of the Tribune: “One veteran scout at Tuesday’s game said a few teams were still looking at Bryant as a trade possibility one week after Bryant said he expects to start the season with the Cubs.”
Before taking that too far, I would emphasize that what you have there is a group of *OTHER* teams still looking at Bryant as a trade *POSSIBILITY*, and you have that information being conveyed by a scout (who is probably aware of other scouts there to keep tabs on Bryant).
That really only means that some of the teams that were considering Bryant in the offseason are likely keeping tabs on his situation this spring, as well as their own internal situation. In the unlikely event that things happen such that they feel they absolutely must take a swing at Bryant before Opening Day, they want to make sure they have as detailed information as possible on how he’s looking. I doubt they think it’s likely they’ll actually ever take that swing – at least shy of the Trade Deadline – but since you don’t know exactly what might happen over the next month, you stay at the periphery, considering Bryant “a trade possibility.”
If some massive injury were to happen on the Padres or Rangers or Nationals or Braves or some mystery team, then yeah, I think you might see a phone call or two placed to check back in. But shy of that, I doubt a team reaches out to the Cubs to seriously engage on Bryant at this time, even if they are keeping tabs and still otherwise “want” Bryant. They’re just gonna go with what they have at this point, and reevaluate at midseason. As will the Cubs.
For now, Kris Bryant is here, and other teams can watch him all they want. But he’s gonna be the Cubs’ leadoff man on Opening Day.
