Las Vegas native Kris Bryant sent to minors by Chicago Cubs

By Jason P. Skoda, Associated Press

Monday, March 30, 2015 | 12:57 p.m.

MESA, Ariz. — Third baseman Kris Bryant has been reassigned to the Chicago Cubs' minor league camp despite hitting .425 in spring training with nine homers and 15 RBIs in 40 at-bats.

If Bryant spends 12 or more days in the minor leagues, Chicago would delay him from becoming eligible for free agency until after the 2021 season.

Bryant, a Las Vegas native and Bonanza High School graduate, was slowed defensively in the middle of camp by right shoulder soreness.

"It's always difficult to send young players down because it is news they don't want to hear," Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein said Monday. "We entered camp with the presumptive move of sending him to Triple-A, and it is always the presumptive move for us with young players who haven't played in the big leagues yet. You see how camp develops and how the roster shapes up to see if there is grounds for an exception to the rule."

Preparing for its first season under manager Joe Maddon, the Cubs also optioned second baseman Javy Baez to Triple-A Iowa and reassigned shortstop Addison Russell were assigned to minor league camp.

The demotion of Bryant was expected but controversial.

"In this case it was the right thing to do," Epstein said. "His performance really mattered, and he made a great first impression on Joe. It demonstrated clearly to everybody that he is really close to not just being in the big leagues but an important role on the team."

Baez, 22, was competing for the starting second-base job. He entered Monday's game against San Francisco hitting .173 with 20 strikeouts in 52 at-bats

"He is so close to getting it figured out in the batter's box and we feel like Triple-A is the right venue for him to continue making those adjustments and get locked in," Epstein said. "He does everything else so well on the baseball field, he is a winning baseball player. He just has to take that same mindset in the batter's box."

Russell, 21, was acquired from Oakland in the Jeff Samardzija trade on July 5. He hit .324 in 37 at-bats during spring training.

"I couldn't tell him what to work on," Maddon said. "He is that accomplished at that age. I asked to him keep doing what he is doing."

Epstein and Maddon both said there were heated debates on the decisions when it came to Baez and Bryant.

"In a healthy organization there should be different opinions expressed, bounce ideas off each other, talk about different aspects of the game and how you weigh different variables," Epstein said. "These players were new to Joe so he is seeing them for the first time and we couldn't have had a healthier debate about it and in the end we all agreed. I think I could probably be in this game for a long time and not send down three players that talented on the same day ever again. Those three are pretty good."