It has to be addressed. The Chicago Cubs are not going to trade Kris Bryant. Please stop with the awful click bait articles. Give up on the laughable lopsided proposals. It has to stop, people.

Right off the bat, the “grievance didn’t allow the Cubs to trade him” argument is bored. On the surface I can understand the thought process that it might be difficult to trade a player where purchasers aren’t sure if they are getting one or two years of Bryant. But trade talks do not operate in a vacuum. If Theo and Company was set on dealing Bryant to save money (blah blah blah) then they would have contingency plans.

“Hello Atlanta. If Bryant has two years of control, we want Players X, Y, and Z. If Bryant has only one year of control, we will accept Player X and Y while throwing in some cash. Sound good? Cool.”

We are a week removed from the grievance decision. If he hasn’t been traded now, he’s not going to be traded.

That’s not enough for you? Fine by me; I’m back for more.

Besides KB being the most talented player the Cubs have seen in decades, it just doesn’t make sense from a roster construction standpoint to deal their best player. When looking at the way the roster is assembled, it is very clear that the brightest spot resides in the core. It has since this competitive window opened and shines even brighter today. The foursome of Bryant, Rizzo, Baez, and Contreras is going to help this team to a .500 finish as is. They, along with Hendricks and Darvish, will compete for a playoff spot no matter what the rest of the roster looks like.

Trading Bryant immediately indicates that this team does not plan on competing in the year 2020. It triggers “sell mode.” At that point, what is stopping this front office from auctioning off all sorts of valuable pieces? Those core players are all fair game at that point. Unfortunately for the front office (fortunate for fans who enjoy watching good baseball) it is just far too late in the process to begin a full-blown rebuild.

With less than a week until pitchers and catchers report, this roster is stuck as is. If a rebuild (or retool, if that makes you feel better) was in the cards, it would have begun earlier in the offseason. Now, it’s wait and see until the trade deadline approaches.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I guess I can add one more statement that you might think is opinion, but it is actually just fact.

Kris Bryant, when healthy, is a top five player in all of baseball. He is an MVP candidate entering each and every season. If the Cubs trade him with two years left on his contract, it would be arguably the biggest mistake this franchise has ever made.