What the Kris Bryant ruling means for the Phillies
What happens now that the Phillies could get two years of Kris Bryant?
After what felt like an eternity, news finally broke early on Wednesday afternoon that Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs lost his grievance with the organization regarding his time of service. One of the hotter storylines of the offseason, Bryant’s newly announced case ruling affects both the Phillies and the MLB in a few major ways.
So what does all this mean? To make a long story short, Bryant and the Cubs were in a disagreement over when his years of service in the MLB truly started. He felt he should be a free agent next year, the Cubs felt he should be locked into a contract for another two years after they stashed him in the minor leagues until the year of service cut-off date.
The decision went to a judge, and after months of rumors and click-bait type stories, the decision was finally made. Bryant now has two full years of control left on his current contract.
While I wish I could tell you that this means a Bryant-Phillies trade is imminent, this is going to hurt the Phils if anything.
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With two entire seasons of Bryant now on the table, the asking price for the former MVP just went through the roof.
Throughout the offseason, teams like the Mets, Nationals, Dodgers, and the Cardinals all reportedly shied away from a Bryant trade due to the very real possibility he just leaves after a year. Now, teams may jump right back into the Bryant sweepstakes with the hope that adding a player of his caliber thrusts them into multiple years of contention.
The Cardinals for example, who were reported to be seriously interested in a Nolan Arenado deal, now may just use that same trade package on the Chicago-based third baseman.
The Phillies “X-factor” when it came to Kris Bryant was always elements outside of baseball. Bryce Harper and Bryant are best friends, Bryant’s agent Scott Boras is in good standing with the Phillies organization, and Philadelphia provides a big time market for a player who has only ever seen the spotlight.
That all still holds true. If Boras and Bryant want to be in Philly, ultimately, they will end up in Philly at some point. However, with the recent grievance ruling, the Phils are really going to have to battle it out with some very deep farm systems.
Gut feeling? Kris Bryant won’t be rocking red and white pinstripes on opening day.