Kris Bryant sounds off on free agency: 'Everybody has money. We're not stupid'
Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant isn’t a big fan of the way teams have acted during free agency this winter. Bryant sounded off on the slow offseason, telling Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune the players know every team has money.
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The 27-year-old Bryant made those comments while discussing Manny Machado’s surprising deal with the San Diego Padres.
“It just goes to show the teams you don’t expect to have the money do,” said Bryant, who shares the same agent [Scott Boras] as Harper. “Nobody expected the Padres to do this, but they did. I heard they’re still talking about Bryce [Harper].
“Everybody has money. We’re not stupid. You see the price of tickets, the price of whatever, and the memorabilia. There are TV deals, a lot of money in this game.”
Bryant is referring to the fact that baseball brought in record revenues in 2018. Despite those revenues, spending on players actually decreased. With restrictions in place to limit spending on the international market or in the draft, those record revenues weren’t used to improve teams.
As Bryant also pointed out, there are already ways in which teams generate revenue to cover expenses. Teams set ticket and memorabilia prices. They also sign lucrative television deals. The Arizona Diamondbacks’ television deal, which was signed in 2015, was rumored to be for $1.5 billion. Bryant didn’t even mention sponsorships and stadium naming-rights deals.
All those things go toward paying operating expenses and player salaries before a single ticket is sold. Ticket prices have little to no bearing on player salaries. If that were the case, noncompetitive teams or teams that cut payroll would also lower ticket prices, but that doesn’t happen.
Bryant also included Nolan Arenado’s $260 million extension with the Colorado Rockies to make his point about every team having money. He admitted he would look at Arenado’s deal when seeking his next contract.
Bryant also said he would listen to any extension offers the Cubs would send his way, but seemed pessimistic that would happen after the way the team operated during the offseason, according to Gonzales.
“I’d be dumb not to hear anything they have to offer. But right now it seems like they’re not willing to do that because we haven’t gotten anyone new. So that’s OK, too.”
Those comments come a day after Bryant spoke out about service-time manipulation. Bryant, who had his service time manipulated by the Cubs in 2015, called the practice “awful.” Hours later, Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins added to that narrative, saying he did not believe No. 1 overall prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was ready for the majors yet.
Bryant is under Cubs control through the 2021 season. He’s set to hit free agency a month before the current collective-bargaining agreement expires.
Given Bryant’s comments, he may wait until baseball’s labor issues are addressed before he signs his next deal.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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