© Matt Kartozian | 2021 Aug 3
The Giants sure seemed to get a sweet deal in the Kris Bryant trade. The question is, why?
San Francisco only had to part with their No. 9 and No. 30 prospect for a player that won the MVP in 2016 after being drafted by the Cubs in 2013. Chicago clearly had no interest in re-signing Bryant, trading the 4-time All-Star so as not to lose him in free agency, and was so set on not bringing him back that they sold him for cents on the dollar. What’s more, the Cubs were never able to sign Bryant to an extension in the years before he was about to hit free agency.
Bryant joined Tolbert, Krueger and Brooks on Thursday and was asked why he didn’t re-up with the Cubs. Bryant seemed as confused as anybody, telling KNBR he never got the chance.
“I saw the writing on the wall the last couple of years,” Bryant said. “That was always the story that was out there. You asked why I didn’t re-up, we didn’t have those talks. I said in an interview a couple days ago that we talked in 2016 and that was about it. There was no serious conversations after that. So, you can’t really do much about that.
“I was just doing all I could to help the team win and I was proud of that and proud of my career there. I had some really good memories there and hopefully I can do a lot of the things I did there, here. I’m really excited about that.”
Listen to the full interview below.