A service-time grievance and trade rumors have been dominant topics this offseason centering on Cubs superstar Kris Bryant. But Bryant, who will turn 28 on Saturday, would still prefer to spend his entire career with the Cubs, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score hears. That depends in part on whether the club would be willing to give the third baseman “fair value” in an extension, though. To this point, there hasn’t been any word about serious extension talks between the two sides. As of now, after his grievance hearing in October, the main question is whether Bryant has one or two years of team control left. The decision figures to have a significant impact on his future.
More from around the game…
- If free-agent outfielder Yasiel Puig ends up scoring a multiyear contract, which is far from a sure thing, it’s “unlikely” the Tigers will be the team that gives it to him, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com writes. That said, credible outfield possibilities in free agency are decreasing, and the Tigers look to be in desperate need of help there. Their projected 2020 trio of JaCoby Jones, Christin Stewart and Harold Castro combined for minus-1.7 fWAR in 2019.
- The Mets opened up a windfall of cash when they agreed to an amended contract with injury-laden outfielder Yoenis Cespedes two weeks ago. A few days later, the team reached a guaranteed $10.5MM deal with reliever Dellin Betances. However, according to general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, there’s no connection between the two transactions. “The specifics of Cespedes’ resolution didn’t necessarily drive this decision. It was more the desire to get this player,” said Van Wagenen, per Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. Van Wagenen added that the Mets’ pursuit of Betances began at the general managers’ meetings in November, long before they changed Cespedes’ contract.
- It seems interest in outfielder Kim Jae-Hwan has been hard to come by since he was posted Dec. 5, but the free agent has every intention of riding out the process, his agent, Kim Pyung-ki, told Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News. Kim only has until Sunday to find a contract; otherwise, he’ll return to his Korea Baseball Organization club, the Doosan Bears, and won’t be eligible for another posting until November. So far this offseason, only the Marlins have been connected to Kim, but “they seemed lukewarm in their response after watching footage of Kim in action,” Yoo writes. And Miami has signed fellow outfielder Corey Dickerson, perhaps taking it out of the Kim sweepstakes entirely.
