Kris Bryant's Call-Up 'Snub' Highlights Big Flaw in MLB Roster Rules

Kris Bryant was recently named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year, and it would be shocking if the 22-year-old didn't sweep the award across all major outlets.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2013 draft, Bryant put up monster numbers in his first full professional season, leading the minor leagues in home runs (43), slugging percentage (.661), OPS (1.098) and wOBA (.472). He also ranked second in runs (118) and fourth in RBI (110). Overall, he batted .325 with a .438 on-base percentage in 594 plate appearances between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa.

But despite the video game numbers, the Cubs didn't offer Bryant a September call-up, which would have reunited him with season-long minor league teammates Javier Baez, Arismendy Alcantara and Jorge Soler.

The September snub didn't sit well with Bryant, and the 22-year-old made his opinion known to Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com:

"

I think now more than ever, I’m realizing this game is a business, and all I can do is go out there and play as hard as I can and make it really hard on the guys in charge. I think I did that this year. If I’m taking that mindset, then I’m not really going to be sitting there with my head down at the end of the year.

[…]

It’s kind of funny, all the rules. Coming into professional baseball, I had no clue. I didn’t pay any attention to it in college, either. At the end of my first season, I kind of know the lingo about all this stuff. I guess the system works in some ways, and in some ways there are some flaws. I can’t focus on that. I’ve always been high on avoiding the distractions.

"

Seeing Bryant finish the season in the majors alongside Baez, Alcantara and Soler would have been a thrill and would have fueled even more excitement about the Cubs' future, but it made little sense for the organization to unnecessarily add him to the 40-man roster and start his service clock.

The Cubs will control him for an additional year, through the 2021 season, by keeping him in the minor leagues this season and waiting to call him up until mid-April next year.

Theo Epstein, the Cubs' president of baseball operations, at least acknowledged the importance of service time when informing the slugger his season would not conclude in the major leagues, per Rogers:

"

I told him the other day, 'You did everything you could possibly do as a first-year pro to impress and make us proud as an organization.' I told him the simple fact we’re not in a pennant race and for a first-year professional who didn’t miss any time, it’s a long season, a long grind, whether he realizes it or not. It’s appropriate to go home and rest.

"

Bryant has every right to be upset with the Cubs' decision; as the best player in the minor leagues this season, nobody was more deserving of a call-up.

And that's where folks such as Scott Boras, Bryant’s agent, take issue with the premise behind September call-ups.

"But if this is a performance-driven industry as it should be, Bryant deserves the call-up, based on performance," Boras said via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. "What’s best for the player, what’s best for the team in 2015? The goal here is trying to make the team the best it can be in 2015. And what can you do to ready him for that?"

The Cubs have exposed youngsters Baez and Soler to the major leagues during the second half, hoping they'll go through an adjustment period this year and be ready to go in 2015. Based on that logic and Bryant’s off-the-charts production this year, it made little sense for the Cubs to deny him a call-up.

Even if applied to the Cubs' long-term plans for Bryant, Bryant getting his feet wet over a full month in the major leagues this year could, in theory, better prepare him for 2015 and, more importantly, future seasons.

While Bryant’s lack of promotion highlights a major flaw in the "performance-based" system for promoting prospects, it’s hard to blame the Cubs for their conservative approach to his development this season.

Teams such as the Cubs, who are out of playoff contention, aren't as willing to risk their futures just because a prospect's performance suggests he's in need of a greater challenge. Instead, they tend to err on the side of caution with top-prospect promotions, which usually results in a "snub" of some sort.

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

In 2012, Wil Myers batted .314/.387/.600 with 37 home runs, 26 doubles, six triples, 109 RBI and a 140-61 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 134 games between the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

However, the Kansas City Royals didn't reward the then-21-year-old outfielder with a September call-up. Myers was then traded during the offseason to the Tampa Bay Rays, who held him in Triple-A until mid-June the following year.

That developmental timeline worked out for Myers, as he went on to win the 2013 AL Rookie of the Year Award after posting an .831 OPS with 13 home runs and 53 RBI in 88 games.

While Myers was denied a September call-up in his fourth minor league season, the 22-year-old Bryant was “snubbed” by the Cubs in his first full professional season, with only 740 plate appearances under his belt.

Plus, with 40-man roster players such as Mike Olt and Christian Villanueva still trying to find their way at the position and Luis Valbuena playing well in the majors, Bryant’s promotion would have forced the Cubs to officially pass over both players ahead of schedule.

It's impossible to argue with the notion that Bryant deserves to spend the final month of the season in the major leagues given his potential role with the Cubs in 2015.

And while the organization's decision to delay Bryant's service clock until next season may be unpopular and not make a ton of sense at present, especially with their other young talents now in the major leagues, an extra year of team control of the potential MVP candidate could ultimately be huge toward the club’s long-term success.