The Chicago Cubs know that one way they are going to build a real dynasty is by making sure they can lock up their core young talent. It appears they were trying to do just that by attempting to lock up Kris Bryant for a long-term deal. The problem appears to be the reigning NL MVP has no real interest in signing a team friendly deal, before he has a chance to test free agent waters.
A recent report by Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated shows the club “got nowhere” in their efforts to get a new deal. The report, as a matter of fact, shows the team attempted to get many of its young players under new contracts but they couldn’t make any inroads over the offseason.
The Chicago Cubs running up against Scott Boras
When looking at the big picture, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the Cubs couldn’t land a deal with Bryant. The third baseman’s agent is Scott Boras, who doesn’t tend to lean towards making sure his clients sign team friendly deals.
Boras, in fact tends to steer his clients towards going to free agency in order to get the biggest contracts they can possibly get. Boras also talked about the fact that when he goes into a negotiation, he takes on two different factors, that whether or not the player has a fit on the team and what the value of that player is when it comes to the teams. Boras told Verducci when he was talking to the Cubs, he saw some movement but not enough.
The Super Agent also felt he was on the same page as the Cubs when it came to measuring the fit on the team, but not how they should value that fit.
Chicago Cubs president is a tough negotiator
Because Chicago and Bryant were never really expected to agree on a long-term deal, the story on the talks is really more interesting when it comes to the background.
Boras apparently has quite a bit of respect for Cubs president Theo Epstein. Verducii reports the exec is considered a “tough negotiator.”
The agent says the Cubs top brass does not “settle on certain things.” Epstein apparently offers a very limited range in terms of dollars. He’s also someone who knows exactly what he wants to do when it comes to talking about trade clauses and options.
While Boras’ comments were obviously fairly positive of the Cubs, they are also not very good news for Chicago Cubs fans. For now, it appears they have a few more years of Bryant and then may have to break open the wallet in a big way. In the mean time, just sit back and enjoy one of the best young players in all of baseball.
