Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

Wow....That card is insane. Move over Babe Ruth.

Definitely Unleashed.

If he doesn't cut down on his K's he will be a .225 hitter. Dave Kingman like if you ask me.

As long as he hits .425 with a HR every 4.5 ABs with an occasional double thrown in he can strike out 200 times as far as I am concerned.

In the Cubs perfect world Bryant cools off some at AAA while playing an OF slot every day. Then the Cubs can claim they are getting him ready to change positions since they have Mike Olt clogging his ascension to Chicago. It would help if Olt could finally leave his 2 year struggles since being beaned behind and get off to a good start. Then they could either wait for Bryant to show he is comfortable in the OF before calling him up and giving him one of the corner slots. Or if Olt hits and plays third well enough to garner trade interest they could ship Olt out and the call Bryant up proclaiming it the natural thing to do now that they have successfully cleared a position for him to play.

Good chance none of that happens. But almost certainly if Olt gets off to a bad start and then Bryant is called up Olt goes to the bench or has to clear waivers to be sent down. His trade value could drop to nothing.

He is clearly not ready yet. He needs about two weeks more seasoning before he is ready for major league pitching. Coincidentally that will give the Cubs one more year of control. What are the odds of that?

It seems strange to me that all of this "controversy" over Bryant starting in the minors for the beginning of the season (12 days) so that the parent club can control him for an additional 162 games (while he's in his prime, not just as a hot-shot rookie; albeit one that hit 40+ homers last year in the minor leagues). This story is played out in multiple towns every year since the last negotiated CBA - why wouldn't a team want to keep any player that projects out so strongly an extra year?

Is it only a big story now because ESPN doesn't have Derek Jeter to talk about or is it because Scott Boras is Bryant's agent?

If he is as good as they say and I believe he is let him start the season with the club. Then say in 3 years he is hitting 40+ HRs and driving in 100+ and hitting .290-.300+ with good OBA and decent fielding give him a 10 year contract then and have him locked up with the team until 35-36. See Stanton and Trout! But it is the Cubs so they feel that 2 weeks extra to have him for 1 extra year is worth the risk. So they have him until 29-30 and then he walks or he asks for a 10 year at that time for BIG $$'s. The Cubs either give it to him or risk losing him. Someone will give him the $$. See Cano!

The 42.6 HR chances make up for the paltry 25.9 non-HR OB chances ...

FRANKMANSUETO wrote:If he is as good as they say and I believe he is let him start the season with the club. Then say in 3 years he is hitting 40+ HRs and driving in 100+ and hitting .290-.300+ with good OBA and decent fielding give him a 10 year contract then and have him locked up with the team until 35-36. See Stanton and Trout! But it is the Cubs so they feel that 2 weeks extra to have him for 1 extra year is worth the risk. So they have him until 29-30 and then he walks or he asks for a 10 year at that time for BIG $$'s. The Cubs either give it to him or risk losing him. Someone will give him the $$. See Cano!

The Cubs will send him down to keep the control. I use to follow the Cubs in the 80's and 90's. They will blow this like they always have. Frank is right see Cano. Bryant will be unhappy with the demotion and will not re-sign with the Cubs. When you are riding a bus knowing you should be on a plane you don't forget. The Yankees will have him as soon as he can be signed away. I know nothing about this Olt guy but even though Bryant knows him he doesn't care about what they want to do with him.