Cubs fans know a thing or two about heartbreakers and waiting. 107 years without a World Series championship would test anyone’s patience. Now so does the wait for the promotion of young phenom Kris Bryant.
Billed as the North Side’s savior in waiting, the 23-year-old third baseman hasn’t smacked a single home run onto Sheffield Avenue, but that doesn’t mean his presence isn’t felt at Wrigley every day.
Come Friday, Bryant could finally be joining the Cubs band and The Waiting would be over.
Maybe.
The fact Bryant is even hitting tape measure homers in Iowa is a matter of dollars and cents and sadly hasn’t made tons of sense to the Cub faithful.
Chicago Baseball
If Bryant is on the big league roster before Friday, he would become a free agent in 2020. If he arrives after that, Bryant hits free agency in 2021.
Assuming the 2014 Minor League Player of the Year becomes who the Cubs think he can be as a player, it’s a matter of millions at stake.
The Cubs officially have said Bryant needs more work and Team President Theo Epstein has never had a top prospect open the season on the big league club. For the record, in five games in AAA this season, Bryant has hit two homeruns, knocked in seven runs and is hitting .381. And he has played every single game at third base, not the outfield where he finished spring training with the Cubs.
Not even injuries to infielders Tommy La Stella and Mike Olt have brought Bryant to the majors before the Friday milestone.
In Tuesday night’s loss to the Reds, fans dreamed of what a healthy Bryant might have done with the winning runs on base in the 9th vs. Aroldis Chapman. Instead, a sore wristed Olt struck out.
What does manager Joe Maddon think of all this?
"Of course, I'll be part of it," he said. "But I'm a big believer in separation of powers. Of course the (front office) will ask me about it, but at the end of the day, that's not my decision."
Will it be Friday or Saturday or whenever? Only Epstein knows but Cubs fans should remember this, “Good things come to those who wait.”
No one has waited longer .
