Everyone saw the viral video of Kris Bryant leaving the Chicago Cubs' dugout for the final time upon being traded to the Giants.
The 2016 NL MVP's wife already had told him he was heading to the Bay when Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer called to inform him. But it was parting words from Cubs hitting coach Anthony Iapoce that made Bryant emotional.
“He’s crying, like ‘Everybody’s going away,’ ” Bryant said, via The Athletic's Jon Greenberg. “That got to me.”
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Bryant was the final member of the Cubs' core to be traded at the deadline, with the deal to the Giants coming together at the very last minute. Anthony Rizzo was sent to the New York Yankees and Javy Baez to the New York Mets. Close Craig Kimbrel packed his bags to walk across town to join the Chicago White Sox.
By the time the July 30 trade deadline came and went, the Cubs' core that brought Chicago the 2016 World Series title was dismantled and shipped off as the franchise looks to rebuild.
Rizzo and Baez both homered in their first games with their new teams, and Bryant matched his former Cubs teammates a day later when he launched a solo home run in his Giants debut at Oracle Park.
“What a coincidence for all that to happen and just pouring salt on a wound, kind of,” Bryant said of every member of the core going yard for their new team in their debut.
San Francisco Giants
Bryant admitted he felt he had to match what Rizzo and Baez did in their respective debuts.
"I couldn't have not joined the group," Bryant said on Summer Sunday after the Giants beat the Astros 5-3 in Bryant's Giants debut. "The media was asking me before the game if I felt any pressure to hit a home run. I said I didn't, but I kinda did a little bit, so I'm glad I was able to deliver."
RELATED: Could Bryant trade lead to long-term marriage with Giants?
Bryant will be a free agent this offseason, but the Giants seem like they would be a good long-term fit if the numbers are right. Bryant is a Scott Boras client so he almost certainly will head to the open market seeking a lucrative contract, the kind Boras is very good at finding.
There, of course, is a chance Bryant could reverse course and head back to Chicago. But that's unlikely.
He is, however, grateful Hoyer sent him, Rizzo, Baez and Kimbrel all to teams in the thick of the World Series hunt.
“I think there was a little bit of ‘Let’s get these guys somewhere they deserve to be and want to be,’ and I appreciated that,” Bryant said, via Greenberg.
The Giants appreciate having Bryant in the middle of their lineup and hope he remains a fixture there for the foreseeable future.