The Chicago Cubs’ reunion of their curse-breaking 2016 World Series team had a 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 Cubs Convention on Friday. Fans in search for a reason soon found one from a report on radio station 670 The Score, which claimed that Bryant “was not allowed to be there by his team.”
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That team would be Bryant’s current club, the Colorado Rockies.
The report triggered a wave of outrage on social media, with the Rockies making for an easy villain. No reason was provided for why they would do so. A day later, the Rockies denied they had any part in Bryant missing the reunion, via MLB.com’s Thomas Harding and the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders.
So why wasn’t Bryant there while other active players on other teams, such as Schwarber and Baez, were? That remains unclear.
Bryant remains one of the most important players in Cubs history as a central figure on the team that broke through 108 years disappointment, but his future in baseball has never been more cloudy due to a series of back injuries that have ravaged his Rockies career.
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The four-time All-Star signed a seven-year, $182 million contract with Colorado after the 2021 season. That deal is now considered one of the worst in MLB history, as he’s managed to play only 170 games in four seasons. While on the field, he’s slashed only .244/.324/.370 with the Rockies despite the advantage of Coors Field.
Bryant was diagnosed with a degenerative disc disease last May and has been rumored to be considering retirement, though he insisted a couple months ago he intends to keep playing. He has three years and $81 million left on his contract.
