The Chicago Cubs’ reunion with their curse-breaking 2016 World Series team had one notable absence: Kris Bryant.
The 2016 National League MVP wasn’t on stage when Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber, Javier Baez, Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks and several other former Cubs players appeared at the Cubs Convention on Friday.. Fans looking for a reason quickly found one a report on radio station 670 The Scorewho claimed Bryant “wasn’t allowed to be there by his team.”
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That team would be Bryant’s current club, the Colorado Rockies.
The report sparked a wave of outrage on social media, with the Rockies being an easy villain. No reason was provided as to why they would do this. A day later, the Rockies denied playing a role in Bryant’s disappearance from the reunion, via Thomas Harding of MLB.com and Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post.
So why wasn’t Bryant there when other active players on other teams, like Schwarber and Baez, were? This remains unclear.
Bryant remains one of the most important players in Cubs history as a central figure on the team that weathered 108 years of disappointment, but his future in baseball has never been murkier due to a series of back injuries that ravaged his Rockies career.
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The four-time All-Star signed a seven-year, $182 million contract with Colorado following the 2021 season. This deal is now considered one of the worst in MLB history.since he only managed to play 170 games in four seasons. On the field, he slashed just .244/.324/.370 with the Rockies despite the Coors Field advantage.
Bryant was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease last May and rumor has it he’s planning to retire, even though he insisted a few months ago, he intended to continue playing. He has three years and $81 million remaining on his contract.
