(670 The Score) Perhaps it's just a coping mechanism, the equivalent of rejecting before getting rejected to feel some false and sour sense of superiority or control.
There isn't much more to explain a discernible and oft-expressed sentiment from some Cubs fans that they've had it with third baseman Kris Bryant and will be happy when he's finally traded. Those of us who have spent time involved in conversations about his future keep crossing paths with these people -- the tweeters, texters and callers to 670 The Score who share a sentiment that's difficult to understand.
"He's soft."
"He doesn't have enough RBIs."
"He's not a leader."
"He's not clutch."
"He's a prima donna."
All this for a first-round draft pick who was the collegiate player of the year, then the minor league player of the year, then the National League Rookie of the Year and then the NL MVP in consecutive seasons. Bryant was also the best position player on the 2016 World Series champion Cubs, that team that was kind of a big deal.
Bryant's career slash line is .284/.385/.516, and he has already accounted for 27.8 Wins Above Replacement, per Fangraphs.com. He's in the prime of his career at age 28. His career wRC+ of 139 is the fourth-best total offensive output in the history of the franchise, dating back to 1876. Those ahead of him are Rogers Hornsby, Hack Wilson and George Gore, the last of whom played from 1879 to 1886.
The professed desire to instead prefer some unknown alternative at this stage of the Cubs' competitive phase nearly defies belief. It might make some sense if Bryant were a malcontent or malingerer, someone with off-field behavioral issues or standoffish public demeanor, but he's the exact opposite of all of that, the kind of sports star who seems created in a lab to check all the boxes for likability.
And yet, here we are. The reality of the situation is comprehended easily, as we can see the forces at work. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein knows the jewels of the once-stocked farm system were traded away for reinforcements to bolster contending teams, and the post-teardown drafts combined with a behind-the-times development operation haven't replenished the supply sufficiently. Free agency has been marked by more misses than hits, straining the Cubs' self-imposed budgetary limits. Any preliminary attempts to extend Bryant have failed to gain traction, which means they don't plan to offer him the number that would keep him a Cub.
Moving their most valuable player might make sense in this grim reality, then, one in which protecting the profits is the primary goal and securing a cache of prospects to usher in a transitional pullback is the secondary one. But to think that we live in an age when fans can prefer to root actively for the billionaire owners' pockets instead of one of their all-time great players just boggles the mind.
It's one thing to recognize why the Cubs feel they have to trade Kris Bryant. It's something else entirely to want them to.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's Bernstein & McKnight Show in midday. You can follow him on Twitter @Dan_Bernstein.
