Kris Bryant tries to clarify his provoking remarks about the Rockies

The Colorado Rockies and Kris Bryant aren’t thrilled with the way he sounded in an article by The Athletic that came out on Thursday morning.

Bryant came as close as he could to saying he regrets signing a seven-year $182 million deal with the Rockies without explicitly saying that. He went on further to say it’s actually good that he and his teammates won’t have the outside pressure that comes with playing on a good team. He was quoted in the story as saying he wasn’t aware of just how bad the Rockies situation was with their current roster and state of the farm system when he signed the contract.

A day later Bryant attempted to walk back some of those comments in a second story on MLB.com. Though he never said he was misquoted just that some more context was needed.

“I know who I am and what I represent,” Bryant told the league’s website. “I don’t believe in [piling] on your players or human beings in general. That is not something I would ever do.”

“And I would have no room to even say anything like that, considering how my last two years have gone. For me to have the audacity to say something like, ‘Ooh, our players aren’t good.’ I’m gonna say something like that after not performing and not being on the field like that is never how I would ever come across.”

Well, that’s exactly how Bryant did come across to many Rockies fans who read the story. And the damage that caused was probably why Bryant was giving more quotes to the media just a day later.

“How many dollars per game played? He should count his blessings. He’s been a fraud as a Rockie,” one Twitter user responded to Denver Sports story.

“With the stats that he has been putting up, he fits right into this team,” another said.

“My dude, fix your own house. I have been one of the few KB believers, understanding that sometimes guys get hurt,” a third person wrote.

Bryant has played in just 122 games over two seasons in Colorado, where the Rockies have lost a combined 197 games. The 32-year-old has spent a ton of time on the injured list with back, foot, glute, heel and finger injuries. When Bryant has been on the field it’s been pretty bad, as he’s amassed -0.6 fWAR in his Rockies career thus far. At the plate, he’s slashed .259/,335/.404 with 15 home runs and 45 RBI. While he was once a versatile fielder, who roamed from his primary third base to centerfield to even shortstop for Joe Maddon’s Chicago Cubs, Bryant has spent his Rockies career mostly as a corner outfielder and designated hitter. It’s expected in 2024 that Bryant will become the latest free agent signee the Rockies will move to first base, following in the footsteps of the highly paid crew of Ian Desmond, Daniel Murphy and Gerardo Parra.

Bryant initially joined the Rockies after a tumultuous winter that included a labor lockout. That forced a delayed Spring Training, which opened up as the lockout ended. Bryant said in the first story that he felt like he needed to report to a camp. So he quickly picked purple.

“I wanted it to be known that I wish it was normal so I knew who was here — the good players,” Bryant told MLB.com. “I’m not saying that they’re not good. It’s the weirdest thing to me, because they’re really, really good. I think they need more credit.”

Further, Bryant went past praising his teammates who were a part of the franchise’s first 100-loss season—he reaffirmed his decision to join the Rockies as a good one.

“You had interested teams before the lockout, the lockout happens and you don’t know who’s going to be interested when you come out of it. For me, I like to be prepared. I like to be at Spring Training, get my feet on the ground,” Bryant shared with MLB.com. “Honestly, I am so happy with this decision. I love everything about this organization. How they treat people with respect. You don’t find that a lot in baseball. It’s really unfortunate something like this has come about.”

And thus ends what will likely be the most memorable chapter of Bryant’s Rockies tenure—the time he briefly put his foot in his mouth and bit the appendage as well as the hand that feeds him.