Kris Bryant has gone from National League MVP and World Series champion to arguably the worst contract in MLB history in less than a decade. He has not played 100 games in a single campaign since 2021 and has barely logged a full season’s worth of action in his first four years with the Colorado Rockies. Injuries have ravaged his career, making it incredibly easy for Father Time to track him down. Bryant is not ready to comply, however.
Despite currently enduring a back issue that he says has affected his day-to-day life, the 33-year-old has no intentions of retiring, per The Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders. He wants to stick around The Show and return to competition. Considering all the obstacles the four-time All-Star has faced since landing in The Mile High City, it is hard to fathom him making a worthwhile comeback. The body is not often ignored, but neither is $81 million.
Rockies fans do not expect Bryant to forego the remaining salary left on the seven-year, $182 million deal he signed in March of 2022, so his defiant stance should not come as a surprise whatsoever. They can only hope, that after a painfully long run of futility, they are due for some good luck.
An improbable Kris Bryant resurgence would give people a reason to believe in Rockies baseball again. Colorado caught a glimpse of what the former Chicago Cubs pillar could do in his first season with the National League West ballclub, as he posted a .306 batting average and hit five home runs in 42 games. Injuries have persisted, though. The back is a particularly sensitive area for an athlete, and Bryant has yet to find a solution after all this time.
His Rockies future appears the same as the present and past: extremely bleak. But the man wants to see this through. For his sake, and that of the fan base, Bryant will ideally overcome his ailments and be able to just focus on baseball. He has a long offseason to figure out his next step.