Jed Hoyer had a good day, but this trade sucks for the Cubs. Bryant has been the subject of trade rumors for almost two years (Remember all the talk back in the spring of 2020, before Covid, about a possible deal with the Braves involving players like Austin Riley, Ian Anderson, Drew Waters, yada-yada-yada.). Hoyer could have possibly pried one of them away from Atlanta, but he held on way too long. He should have paid the rest of Bryant’s salary to net something better. It’s hard to believe other teams, such as the Rays, Padres, Braves, etc., were not willing to offer more in return. Bryant is over his slump. He will streak to the finish line and a big payday in FA, without even the small burden of his next team having to pay draft pick compensation. Biggest winners are the Giants, Bryant and Boras, in that order.
I don’t know, this deal seems fair, all things considered. Yes, he could have kicked in cash to get a better return, as he did with the Baez deal. But the market for position players on the whole today seemed lukewarm-ish. Pitchers got the overpays. I do agree the Cubs should have traded Baez two years ago, though — but then, they weren’t as sure about their strategy at that point. And Bryant was untradeable after his disastrous 2020, so at least they recouped some value here.
The Giants also waited until the Cubs’ leverage was almost non-existent. At 3:50 (EST), what options did the Cubs have? They knew they couldn’t hold onto Bryant, not after trading all the others around him. They also knew that Canario + Kilian was far, far better than a 3rd Round Compensatory Pick.
It was also clear that teams left and right were wanting cash added to trades, and Zaidi went the other way here.
I do think this is a case of Hoyer sitting on his hands. He could have moved Bryant earlier, and likely should have. But Kilian could be a very, very, very solid pickup here. (I think Canario will be an out-of-options pass-around in 3 years).
Caleb Killian needs higher value, he legitmately MLB ready. – giants fan
@JohnBitzer pretty damn close once again. Hope you guys made bank off all this trade deadline traffic!
Thanks. Gas money!
Jed Hoyer had a good day, but this trade sucks for the Cubs. Bryant has been the subject of trade rumors for almost two years (Remember all the talk back in the spring of 2020, before Covid, about a possible deal with the Braves involving players like Austin Riley, Ian Anderson, Drew Waters, yada-yada-yada.). Hoyer could have possibly pried one of them away from Atlanta, but he held on way too long. He should have paid the rest of Bryant’s salary to net something better. It’s hard to believe other teams, such as the Rays, Padres, Braves, etc., were not willing to offer more in return. Bryant is over his slump. He will streak to the finish line and a big payday in FA, without even the small burden of his next team having to pay draft pick compensation. Biggest winners are the Giants, Bryant and Boras, in that order.
I don’t know, this deal seems fair, all things considered. Yes, he could have kicked in cash to get a better return, as he did with the Baez deal. But the market for position players on the whole today seemed lukewarm-ish. Pitchers got the overpays. I do agree the Cubs should have traded Baez two years ago, though — but then, they weren’t as sure about their strategy at that point. And Bryant was untradeable after his disastrous 2020, so at least they recouped some value here.
The Giants also waited until the Cubs’ leverage was almost non-existent. At 3:50 (EST), what options did the Cubs have? They knew they couldn’t hold onto Bryant, not after trading all the others around him. They also knew that Canario + Kilian was far, far better than a 3rd Round Compensatory Pick.
It was also clear that teams left and right were wanting cash added to trades, and Zaidi went the other way here.
I do think this is a case of Hoyer sitting on his hands. He could have moved Bryant earlier, and likely should have. But Kilian could be a very, very, very solid pickup here. (I think Canario will be an out-of-options pass-around in 3 years).