Kris Bryant Apparently Didn't Realize How Bad Rockies Have Been Before Signing Long-Term Contract

Kris Bryant won the 2016 MVP Award with the Chicago Cubs, followed it up with a 7-WAR 2017, and had a 4.7 win season in 2019. All that's to say, Bryant is an exceptionally talented baseball player when healthy. 

What he's apparently not so good at is researching the team he commits to play for in free agency. 

Bryant detailed to The Athletic in a recent interview the process that led him to sign with the Colorado Rockies. And it doesn't sound like Bryant really thought through exactly what joining the Rockies would mean for his future baseball career. When the lockout ended in 2021, he felt like he needed to find a team quickly to avoid losing too much prep time. 

"It’s like, ‘Oh shoot, I need to get there,’" Bryant said. "There were other teams interested, but I didn’t want to wait around. … It was a completely different situation for a lot of free agents at the time. I guess I didn’t do as much research into the prospects as I could."

Those prospects, the few that the Rockies had at the time, have generally turned out to be disappointing when reaching the major leagues. Maybe Bryant should have done a bit more research before signing a seven-year deal?

Sep 23, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Colorado Rockies right fielder Kris Bryant (23) reacts after being called out on strikes during the seventh inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

Kris Bryant Living With The Consequences Of Signing With A Very Bad Team

To say Bryant's tenure in Denver has been disappointing would be a massive understatement. 

In his first two seasons, he's played just 122 combined games, with 2023 being especially frustrating. And the Rockies organizational fortunes have declined precipitously along with his production. 

After surprisingly being one of just two teams to never have a 100-loss season, the Rockies lost 103 games in 2023.

READ: Only One MLB Team Has Never Lost 100 Games After Colorado Rockies Hit Century Mark For First Time

They're not expected to be much better in 2024. 

Colorado has long suffered from a bewildering lack of awareness as to the quality of its team. The Rockies have had just two winning seasons since 2011, and haven't finished higher than fourth place in the NL West since 2018. They let franchise icon and homegrown superstar Nolan Arenado go to St. Louis in a trade, paying $50 million for him to play for someone else. While getting little value in return. That same offseason, they signed Bryant, leading many around the sport to wonder why they just didn't keep Arenado. 

One year they committed $106 million to relief pitchers Bryan Shaw, Wade Davis and Jake McGee. Relief pitchers are widely viewed as poor investments, especially for small market teams, because of the inherent variability in performance from all but the very best in the sport. 

The Rockies have had some player development successes in the past, but now sits mired in the mid-20's in most rankings. It's bleak. And Kris Bryant signed himself up to potentially finish his career there. And it all could have been avoided if he'd just read some prospect lists. Maybe next time.