NEWSLETTER
No one needs a reminder that, among others, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo are under contract for their final year with the Cubs right now. And without extension talks happening, apparently, it has become increasingly difficult to slip off into a nice dream where each guy signs a new deal sometime this year, and the Bryzzo Souvenir Company keeps doing its thing in a Cubs uniform for several more years to come.
If either or both are going to return, it might have to be after free agency plays out – after a new CBA is in place – and after they get a chance to see what the market would have in store for them elsewhere. There’s a lot about this situation that sucks. I know the realities and I know that the Cubs are badly in need of some transformation in the years ahead, but it’s just … these two have been a duo for seven years now with the Cubs. It’s hard to think about being OK with letting that go.
So I need to take a page from Bryant’s perspective on this stuff: just think about now.
“We don’t talk about it much, but it’s in the back of your head,” Bryant told 670 The Score, speaking of the fact that he and Rizzo are free agents after this year. “I have been playing with Anthony Rizzo for seven years now. Yeah, it could be our last year together, but why would I want to have the pressure of thinking about that all the time or sulk? I would just rather enjoy it and enjoy all these memories. So it’s not like we talk about it all the time. It’s like, ‘Let’s have a little bit more fun than we have had before. Let’s joke around about some of these stresses we have each and every day.’ We have each other to lean on. It may be the last time we use each other for resources like that.”
Enjoy the time you have while you have it. Applies to the really big life stuff stuff, and applies to the smaller stuff like cheering for players you like on the teams you like. For the most part, that actually is how I’ve felt so far this season (i.e., once we got past that window where it was clear extensions weren’t going to happen pre-season). I just like seeing these guys do their thing for a seventh year together. We’ll deal with November (or July) when it comes.
