Quote:Come on, D6. Heyward has 2,500+ career at bats. You are lying to yourself if you still think there is top 5 MLB potential for him. Profar is really the only player on that list you can put an asterisk by. Maybe Harper, too, because I still think he has some potential in him.

 

And yes, I have nothing against expecting a promising career for someone touted as highly as Bryant. I even said so myself. I just feel that expecting Bryant to be on of the best 5 players in Major League Baseball is way too high. There is a huge difference between having a successful career and being one 5 best players in the league. People are spoiled by the recent success of Mike Trout and don't stop to consider that Trout was the exception, not the rule.

 

Jason Heyward wasn't on a top 5 path before he was beaned.   Yet,  there are players who take longer to reach their full potential.  At the very least,  Heyward's career was altered considerably.

 

Considering what Kris Bryant displayed in the Minor Leagues,  Bryant and the Cubs would be selling themselves short if expectations for Bryant weren't him eventually becoming a top 5 player.   Like with all things,  time will tell if Bryant reaches that level.   But the ability and the intangibles are there.  Bryant seems exactly what the Cubs franchise needs to eventually finally overcome their generations of falling short.     If the Cubs don't at least get to a World Series during Bryant's time with them,  I believe it won't be because Bryant failed to hold up his end of the bargain.

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