Maybe Kris Bryant won’t be traded after all

It’s been widely assumed that Kris Bryant could be traded this offseason and that all the Cubs are waiting for is the result of his service-time grievance before they ship him to the Braves, or Nationals, or Phillies, or someone even not in the N.L. East.

This Ken Rosenthal tweet hints otherwise:

Rosenthal refers to the Nats’ Friday signing of former Cub Starlin Castro to a two-year contract. Castro is expected to play second base for the Nats. And, Washington on Saturday made another infield signing:

Cabrera, who played second base for the Nats for the last two months of 2019, is thought to be Washington’s solution at third base, perhaps in a platoon with Howie Kendrick, who they re-signed last month.

All of this likely does two things:

• Takes the Nats out of any possibility of signing Josh Donaldson, as they appear to have covered third base for a lot less money than Donaldson wants, and
• Eliminates the possibility that Washington would trade for Bryant.

Donaldson’s other two suitors are said to be the Braves and Twins. I’ve previously posted here some potential matches with the Braves regarding a Bryant trade, perhaps bringing Max Fried and Ender Inciarte in return. But if Donaldson returns to Atlanta, that likely pushes a Bryant deal off the table. I don’t see the Twins interested in KB.

We are now only about five weeks from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, though the Cubs have not yet announced official reporting dates (teams that have are generally in the February 10-12 range). And yet, day after day, there’s no news from the Cubs front office. It almost seems as if they’ve put up a “CLOSED” sign and will enter spring training with the 40-man roster exactly as it is today.

So, that’s where we stand on yet another slow Cubs news day in the winter of 2020. As always, we await future developments.

Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make.