Could The Red Sox Be Eyeing A Kris Bryant Trade?
Gregory Shamus. Getty Images.There's plenty of talent out there in this winter's MLB free agent class, but it doesn't seem like any of the players are currently being linked to the Boston Red Sox. That means Chaim Bloom is going to have to get creative.
Sure, it'd be nice to have Trevor Bauer, but that's more than likely not happening. George Springer, JT Realmuto, DJ LeMahieu and Marcell Ozuna will make the teams they sign with better, but there's a solid chance that none of them end up in Boston. The Springer rumors have been out there for a while, but nothing substantial has surfaced since the outfielder became a free agent a few weeks ago. One thing is for certain, though, and that's that the Red Sox cannot afford to do nothing this offseason. With Alex Cora back in the mix, the Red Sox cannot stand pat after the season that they just had and no top prospects ready to take the world by storm in 2021.
What about Kris Bryant? Now, I know what you're probably thinking. The Red Sox pitching sucks. You reading this right now had a legitimate shot at taking the mound for Boston last year. That's how garbage that staff was. The pitching one thousand percent needs to be addressed this winter, and I trust that it will be to some degree. But might the Red Sox be able to swoop in and get a former MVP in Bryant to add another bat to an already potent offense? The Chicago Tribune reported today that the Red Sox and Cubs discussed a Bryant trade this past summer.
Two sources confirmed the Red Sox and Cubs discussed Bryant this summer, but those talks faded. Rafael Devers is the incumbent at third base, which means the Red Sox would envision Bryant as a left fielder. The Red Sox’s farm system isn’t deep, but they have a lot of money after clearing the salaries of David Price and Mookie Betts by trading them to the Dodgers in February. Mike Bryant, Kris’ father, is a Massachusetts native, but his son will dictate where he plays when becoming a free agent after 2021.
As the report states, the Red Sox don't have much to offer in terms of prospects, but the Cubs are in a position where they have to offload salary and Bryant is in line to get a nice pay increase in his last year of arbitration. Bryant made $18.6 million in 2020 and had a down year in terms of injuries and poor performance overall, hitting .206 with a .644 OPS and a 0.3 WAR, but he still stands to make somewhere around $21 million in arbitration regardless. We can safely assume that the Cubs don't want to pay him that. Perhaps that played a hand in Theo Epstein's departure, too.
Our Starting 9 producer, JayHay, had an interesting theory that the Cubs might simply non-tender Bryant to avoid having to pay him the roughly $21 million he'd be owed next season. Perhaps Theo wanted nothing to do with being attached to such a decision. If the Cubs were to non-tender the 2016 World Series champion, he'd be free to sign with whomever he wanted, but presumably for less than the estimated $21 million he would've received through arbitration. This, of course, would be quite ironic because of all the drama that unfolded when the Cubs kept Bryant down in the minors for the start of 2015 in order to gain an extra year of control on Bryant only to then rid themselves of the 28-year-old for that final year that they strategically obtained, whether that be via non-tender or trade.
While the Red Sox surely need to put a strong focus on their pitching, they could use another outfielder. JD Martinez has made the transition to full time DH barring a few starts to give everyday outfielders a day off. You have Alex Verdugo in right field, and then Andrew Benintendi in left, although he had a dreadful 2020. Benintendi's name has been mentioned as a potential trade chip to acquire some pitching, but that would be a sell low type deal so I'm not sure that would be wise. I also think Benintendi has a big bounce back year, as I don't think we've seen the best from him at the big league level yet. Either way, with Jackie Bradley Jr. being linked to the Astros in free agency, you're going to need another outfielder. Why not Bryant, if the price is right?
The answer to that question is that you might be giving up assets for one year of Bryant's services, and it's very possible it would be one year that the Red Sox aren't exactly viewed as legitimate contenders, even with Bryant. If Bryant does get non-tendered, then you could fix the problem of only one year of the 2016 MVP by signing him to a multi-year deal as a free agent. But if it's a trade, then you've given up trade chips for one year of Bryant in a year that the Red Sox might not be very good, so what good does that do?
We'll have to see how it plays out on the Cubs' end of this. Even if the Bryant stuff amounts to nothing, I still go back to my main point here -- Chaim Bloom is going to have to get creative this offseason. And one move for an outfielder ain't gonna cut it.