The Cubs continued dismantling their championship core just before the deadline Friday. The club traded Kris Bryant to the Giants for two prospects, outfielder Alexander Canario and right-hander Caleb Kilian.
Bryant has been reflective this week, lingering in the Wrigley Field dugout after the Cubs’ 7-4 loss to the Reds on Thursday, the Cubs’ last home game before the deadline. Cubs manager David Ross had slated Bryant for a ninth-inning pinch-hitting opportunity, but the game ended with Bryant in the hole, left standing with bat in hand and helmet on head.
“Plenty of great moments here,” Bryant said recently. “And probably plenty more to come. Maybe when I’m retire I can – I always said I wouldn’t sing the seventh-inning stretch, but maybe throw out the first pitch.”
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Bryant has been in the Cubs organization since the club drafted him No. 2 overall in the 2013 MLB Draft. He debuted for the big-league team in 2015 and became the unanimous National League Rookie of the Year. He, Anthony Rizzo, Javy Báez and Kyle Schwarber were all promising young hitters, propelling the Cubs into a championship window ahead of schedule.
The next year, Bryant won the NL MVP, and the Cubs won the World Series.
“I’ve had some of my best memories here,” Bryant said this week, “and some of the best times in my life.”
Now, Brant is heading to San Francisco, Rizzo is a Yankee, Báez has been dealt to the Mets, and Schwarber earned his first All-Star selection as a National before being traded to the Red Sox on Thursday.
MLB
Gordon Wittenmyer contributed to the reporting of this story.