Star third baseman Nolan Arenado has agreed to an eight-year contract extension with the Colorado Rockies. The 27-year-old was going to hit free agency after the 2019 season, but the Rockies made sure to lock him, signing him to a $260 million deal.
The contract also includes a no-trade clause and a player opt out after three years. That’ll be after the 2021 season, when the current CBA expires.
Arenado’s new eight-year, $260M contract with the #Rockies will include an opt-out after three years and full no-trade clause, sources say.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 26, 2019
So, what does this mean for the Cubs and Kris Bryant? Could there be an extension in the future?
Not likely.
There have already been reports about the Cubs approaching Bryant with a contract extension worth more than $200 million before the 2018 season. Bryant obviously declined and being a Scott Boras client it doesn’t appear as though he has any interest in an extension.
Sahadev Sharma just wrote about Bryant and his disgust over service time manipulation. The Cubs did it with him back in 2015, keeping him down at Triple-A for a few weeks to gain an extra year of control before he could hit free agency.
Kris Bryant has been the player whose service time was manipulated for non-baseball reasons. He's seeing it may happen to others now and not staying quiet about it. https://t.co/7ONsH9RIZ2 pic.twitter.com/H1Q2T1MZ59
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) February 26, 2019
Bryant’s pissed off, maybe not directly at the Cubs, but the entire system as it’s currently constructed. If you read that article you kind of get the impression that Bryant does have a grudge against the Cubs, I mean he did file a grievance, but Sharma, who talked with Bryant about the issue, was on 670 The Score Tuesday and said that’s not necessarily the case.
However, Sharma did make one thing clear. Bryant may not be pissed at the Cubs, but Nolan Arenado’s contract extension with the Rockies changes nothing. Bryant isn’t planning on signing an extension and when it comes to his free agency he’s not giving the Cubs a hometown discount.
Bryant will be 30-years-old in 2022, and as we’ve seen in free agency the top stars still get their money. If you compare Bryant’s next two arbitration years to Arenado’s last two, then Bryant will set a new arbitration record in 2021.
Bryant will still make his money and have the chance to hit the jackpot again in free agency.
So, Cubs fans, hope Tom Ricketts finds more money by then, or Bryant will be going elsewhere.
