Kris Bryant’s signing sends mixed messages to Rockies fans
Mar 23, 2022, 6:00 AM
Under normal circumstances, the Colorado Rockies’ shocking, seven-year, $182 million deal with 2016 MVP Kris Bryant would have made a seismic impact upon the Denver sports scene. As it stands, adding a four-time All-Star and the centerpiece of the Chicago Cubs’ once-in-a-century World Series title has Rockies fans instead scratching their heads.
The situation isn’t normal; prior to last season, the Rockies paid the St. Louis Cardinals more than $50 million to take future Hall-of-Fame third baseman Nolan Arenado off their hands, receiving only a minimal return in prospects. During the season, though it was obvious to anyone listening to him that star shortstop Trevor Story had no interest whatsoever in re-signing with a team that had seemingly given up on contending after trading his teammate on the left side of the infield that spring, then-interim general manager Bill Schmidt made the shockingly poor decision not to deal Story away at the trade deadline. That decision infuriated Story, and ensured that the Rockies would receive only a future compensatory draft pick in exchange for, according to the advanced metric WAR (wins above replacement), the fifth-best player to ever wear a Colorado uniform.
Fast-forward to last fall, where baseball’s owners locked the players out, hoping to bully the players’ union into concessions designed to save owners money rather than play the 2022 season under the existing collective bargaining agreement. At the head of that line was Rockies owner Dick Monfort, who served as the chairman of Major League Baseball’s labor committee, and was insistent for most of four months that player costs had become so prohibitive that it had become difficult to make money as an owner. Given Monfort’s new palatial, mixed-use MacGregor Square’s recent opening alone, the suggestion was immediately laughable — and apparently, even Monfort didn’t really believe it.
Not even one week after the lockout ended, Monfort and Schmidt — whose “interim” status last summer was as laughable as Monfort’s pleas of poverty — handed Bryant his $26 million per year contract, and gave the second pick in the 2013 draft a full no-trade clause, to boot.
The 2013 draft turned out to be a fateful one. The Astros led things off by selecting Stanford pitcher Mark Appel, considered a “can’t miss” player after a dazzling college career that saw him strike out 346 batters in 339 2/3 innings. No one at the time doubted that Appel should have been the top pick, but shoulder injuries ended his career before he ever reached the big leagues. The next two players — Oklahoma fireballer Jon Gray and University of San Diego third baseman Bryant — were considered interchangeable, and with the Cubs’ pressing need for power pitchers, the presumption was that the Cubs would select the fireballing Gray, leaving Bryant for the Rockies. Obviously, things didn’t turn out that way; Bryant went onto become the 2015 National League Rookie of the Year before leading the Cubs to their 2016 championship. Gray became a serviceable mainstay in the Rockies’ rotation before departing for the Texas Rangers as a free agent following the 2021 campaign. Schmidt chose not to deal Gray, either, keeping the Rockies from adding talent as two of their very best players simply walked out the door.
The Rockies have always seen Bryant as the one that got away. Before paying the Cardinals to take him last spring, the Rockies also offered Arenado to the Cubs in a one-for-one deal for Bryant, balking only when Chicago insisted that the Rockies take on pricey, aging outfielder Jason Hayward as well. They’ve been after the Las Vegas native for a while, and now that the 30-year-old has won a ring and racked up a bevy of accolades ever since arriving in the big leagues, Bryant and his agent Scott Boras decided that it was time to cash in — and who was more likely to pay more than the team that’s been after him for a decade?
Bryant — who has been battling and playing through a series of nagging injuries for the last couple of seasons — has an opportunity to rake in the best hitters’ park in history for seven years, or for as long as he feels like it, at least. Arenado and Troy Tulowitzki didn’t want to finish their contracts in Denver, and Story, Gray and former batting champ D.J. LeMahieu headed for greener pastures at their first opportunity. “Each player had different circumstances,” Story told The Athletic last summer. “And different things led to those departures. But maybe there are some similarities there.” To illustrate the point, Story signed with the Boston Red Sox for $42 million less than what Bryant received, and will even accept a move to second base in the process.
The main similarity is the Rockies’ place in the standings. They’ve finished fourth or fifth in the NL West in eight of the last 11 seasons, and now entering their 30th, they’ve never won their division. Ever the optimist, however, Bryant believes that things can change.
“I’ve come from teams in Chicago where, bringing a World Series there, I know what it takes,” Bryant said at his introductory press conference last week. “We brought veterans in at that time, and I want to be that veteran presence for the guys here. Hopefully, they can lean on me for advice in big games.” Of course, the Rockies have to play in big games first, but Bryant had an answer for that, as well. “I take a lot of pride in the fact that I have never played on a losing team in the big leagues — and I don’t plan on doing that here.”
There’s a first time for everything.
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Shawn Drotar (@sdrotar) is the on-air host of “Sandy & Shawn;” weeknights from 9 PM-midnight on 104.3 The Fan, as well as the host of “The Fan’s Nuggets Postgame” and “The Fan’s Avalanche Postgame,” both starting immediately after each game’s final horn.
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