- April 7, 2015
- 4:31 pm
- Sara K. Gramata
- no comments
Wait till May!
Today’s viewpoint comes from Maciej Kanas who has been following Opening Day closely:
The Chicago Cubs began the 2015 season Sunday in front of the smallest opening day crowd at Wrigley Field since 2003. Along with the lack of bleachers, restrooms, room to move and a victory, missing was also the best baseball player during spring training, Kris Bryant. In 14 official Cactus League starts, Bryant hit 9 home runs, 15 RBI’s, averaged .425, and a 1.175 slugging percentage. He was by far the best ball player, not only on the Cubs roster, but in the majors. So why didn’t he make the opening day squad?
The Cubs officially say it is a baseball decision. Cubs GM Theo Epstein explains, “The process of developing a player, taking him from amateur to major league player and every step along the way, that’s a baseball process. Those are baseball decisions. And that’s what we’re doing here.” On the contrary, the MLBPA and Bryant’s agent, Scott Boras counter with the Cubs being unethical and damaging to baseball because they are taking advantage of a loophole in the free agency clause.
MLB players are granted free agency after 5 full seasons in the major leagues (172 games). If Bryant stays 12 games in Triple A Iowa and then joins the Cubs with 160 games left in the season, then he wouldn’t be eligible for free agency until 2021. This will give the Cubs control of Bryant’s services for almost 6 years without him being able to join free agency.
As both a fan and student of sport business, I can see both sides of the argument. On one hand as a fan of the Chicago Cubs, it has been a really long time since there’s been quality baseball and star power on the Northside. Cubs fans want to see “the plan” coming to fruition.
From a long term business perspective, I agree with the Cubs decision. If they truly feel it will serve Kris and the organization, better to keep him in Iowa for a month and then bring him up to the majors. More importantly, if Bryant is truly the player he is hyped to be and the next great young talent alongside Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, I’ll sacrifice one month for an additional year.