Rockies Need to Cut Bait With Kris Bryant This Offseason

Kris Bryant and Russell Wilson signed with the Colorado Rockies and Denver Broncos in March 2022, respectively. Three years later, both deals have aged poorly for their respective franchises, having been signed with high hopes. The Broncos this season are finally paying the last of the $85 million they paid in dead money due to releasing Wilson early in March 2024. But since then, the Broncos have found the quarterback of their future in Bo Nix and possess a top-five defense in the National Football League under Sean Payton this season. The Rockies need to admit the Bryant signing was a disaster and take the same steps.

Rockies Need to Cut Bait With Kris Bryant This Offseason

Kris Bryant Contract

When Bryant signed with the Rockies, he was a top-three free agent in Major League Baseball. He was coming off a second half with the San Francisco Giants in 2021, in which he posted a solid .262/.344/.444 with a .788 OPS in 51 games. Early in his career, he was the model of consistency. Playing in at least 144 games in five of his first seven seasons, with four All-Star appearances. But in a shocking move, it was announced that Bryant was taking his talents to Colorado for a whopping seven-year deal worth $182 million.

Pundits around baseball were stunned. Why would Bryant sign with a Rockies team that is nowhere near contention? For the Rockies, Bryant would sell tickets as a star player on a club that no longer had Nolan Arenado or Trevor Story. Three years later, it appears the pundits were right, and both Bryant and the Rockies had no idea what they were doing. Since the signing, Bryant has been candid about perhaps underestimating how far away from contention the Rockies actually were. While he also felt the urgency to sign with a team ahead of Spring Training in an offseason affected by a labor dispute between the players’ union and the owners.

But Bryant has also publicly expressed his desire to be the player the Rockies expected when they signed him in 2022. To help lead the Rockies out of their malaise of losing since 2019. But each offseason, that statement becomes more of a fallacy. Enough of a fallacy to make the Rockies take a serious look at the remaining $81 million guaranteed on Bryant’s contract during his age 34-36 seasons.

Bryant’s Return to Form Increasingly Unlikely

Bryant is a class act and has done everything he can to be a veteran leader for the struggling Rockies. A large reason for his poor play in Colorado can be attributed to chronic injuries. From 2022 to 25, Bryant has appeared in a total of just 170 games for the Rockies, amassing a -1.6 WAR. He played in 884 games in his first seven seasons, earning a phenomenal 28.0 WAR.

He has dealt with a laundry list of injuries in Colorado, including plantar fasciitis (2022), a bone bruise in his foot (2022), and a broken finger (2023), among others. But the main issue constantly sidelining Bryant is lumbar degenerative disc disease. An issue Bryant has dealt with since his first year in Colorado. After just 11 games this season, the issue forced Bryant to the Injured-List. Where he has stayed since. In an interview with MLB.com’s Thomas Harding in May, Bryant described the “intense” ablation procedure he would undergo on his back this season.

In which they go into the bone and try to kill the nerves to the vertebrae. Bryant expressed his desire to return to the field however he could. Which is why he opted for such an intense procedure. Attempting to fix his chronic back issues once and for all. But Bryant isn’t getting any younger, and playing at altitude for an entire MLB season is arduous for players.

Vanishing Offensive Production

Even if Bryant did manage to finally put together a healthy season in Colorado, it’s hard to imagine it would be anywhere close to the production he showed in Chicago. In his seven seasons with the Cubs, Bryant hit .279/.378/.508. He also recorded 160 home runs, 465 RBI, and a stellar .886 OPS. In 170 games with the Rockies, he has hit just .244/.324/.370 with only 17 home runs, 61 RBI, and a below-average .695 OPS.

Bryant was one of the best in the MLB for the early part of his career. He helped bring a long-awaited World Series to Chicago as a 24-year-old phenom in 2016. It would be a good story to see him successfully return to baseball for the twilight of his career. But it doesn’t make sense for either side for that return to be with the Rockies.

Rockies Need to Finally Part Ways With Bryant

It is clearer than ever that the Rockies need to bite the bullet this offseason and release Bryant. The Rockies finally embraced a youth movement in the second half this season. After trading veterans Ryan McMahon, Jake Bird, and Tyler Kinley at the Trade Deadline. The 40-105 Rockies have looked like a Triple-A team the past couple of months. Tied for the youngest team in baseball. The few veterans the Rockies do have, such as RHP Germán Márquez, 30, and infielder Kyle Farmer, 35, will also likely be out the door this offseason.

The Rockies will continue to need as many reps as possible for younger players next season. It would make no sense for the Rockies to put Bryant in the lineup every day. For a team that is still years away from contention in the midst of their worst season in franchise history. Which is the precise question all the pundits asked when the Rockies first signed Bryant. Their timelines don’t mix, and Bryant deserves a chance to be on a contending team in the last few seasons of his career.

“Handcuffing” the Organization

In an interview with The Athletic in June, former Rockies players discussed the Rockies’ current woes. Former Rockies starting pitcher Tyler Anderson mentioned the Bryant situation. Likening the situation to his current club, the Los Angeles Angels, with Anthony Rendon.

“You spend a lot of money on a player, and guys get hurt and it happens and it sucks,” Anderson said. “But it kind of handcuffs you. You hate to see that, for any player to have that. And for an organization, that’s tough too.”

Per Spotrac, the next closest Rockies player to Bryant’s $27 million annually is starting pitcher Kyle Freeland‘s $16 million. Yes, the Rockies will still owe that money to Bryant even if they release him. But that will be affecting them during their rebuild anyway. In which much of their very young roster is making less than $1 million annually.

The Broncos’ front office admitted their mistake with Wilson, took the financial hit, and moved on to the next era of the franchise. Now, the Broncos are almost out from underneath the Wilson money and are an exciting playoff contender. By the time the Rockies are ready for contention again, it could very well work out similarly. The Rockies’ front office just has to get the process started this offseason.