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Earlier in the day, ESPN's Buster Olney
reported that the Cubs have been telling teams that nearly every
player on the team -- including Bryant -- is available.
But the Chicago Tribune said that when Epstein stated earlier in
the week at the general managers meetings in Carlsbad, Calif. --
that the team doesn't have "untouchable" players -- it didn't
mean he was trying to move Bryant.
"I answered a general question about whether we have
untouchables," the Cubs president said, per the Tribune. "Like
most every organization, we will listen to anything, but that's
just an operating philosophy.
"We are lucky to have some impact players, and we are looking to
add to them, not subtract."
Bryant, 26, rejected a long-term contract extension offer from
the Cubs worth at least $200 million last month, according to
multiple reports.
He won the National League Rookie of the Year in 2015 and the
league's Most Valuable Player award the following season, when
the Cubs won the World Series.
The Cubs have underperformed in the years since, and Epstein
reportedly is concerned about a lack of prospects in the farm
system.
Bryant is under club control through 2021. He earned $10.85
million in 2018, the most ever awarded to a first-year,
arbitration-eligible player. Bryant is eligible for arbitration
for three more years and won't hit the free agent market until
2022 at age 30.
Because of a lingering shoulder injury, he appeared in just 102
games in the 2018 season. Bryant had 13 home runs and 52 RBIs
and hit .272, all career lows. In his MVP season, he hit 39 home
runs with 102 RBIs and a .292 average.
This is not the first time that Bryant and the Cubs' front
office have disagreed. In 2015, the Cubs kept him in the minor
leagues longer than he wanted to have an extra year of control
on his contract. Had they not, he could have been eligible for
free agency a year earlier.
--Field Level Media
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