Cubs rumors: Kris Bryant reunion talk dead for now

A reunion between Kris Bryant and the Chicago Cubs is not going to happen this offseason.

While there was some hope Kris Bryant could return to the North Side and play for the Chicago Cubs once again in his free agency, those rumors seem to have been put to rest for the time being.

David Kaplan of NBC Sports Chicago spoke with FanSided‘s Robert Murray and Mark Carman on The Baseball Insiders podcast, saying it is almost a foregone conclusion that Bryant will not be coming back to Chicago. Bryant had spent his entire big-league career with the Cubs organization before being moved to the San Francisco Giants at the trade deadline. He remains a free agent.

Murray mentioned teams such as the Seattle Mariners, the Los Angeles Angels and the New York Mets among the contenders in line to sign Bryant in his high-profile free agency.

Kris Bryant free agency rumors: Chicago Cubs reunion talks dead for now

With Bryant turning 30-years-old in a few weeks, he is in the prime of his career and may not be interested in rebuilding with the Cubs. That would have been a different story had he reached agreement with Chicago at some point before the end of last season. As much as some Cubs fans would have loved to see Bryant back in Chicago uniform, that is not happening anytime soon.

Of the many teams listed by Murray as potential free-agency destinations for Bryant, the Mariners and the Mets are very interesting spots. Seattle is so close to ending its two-decade postseason drought. Perhaps adding a player like Bryant gets them over the top? However, the Mets feel like the favorites to get him, especially with ex-teammate Javy Baez leaving for Detroit.

Chicago has already adding Marcus Stroman in free agency, so maybe they are not done and could potentially be signing some like … Carlos Correa?