The Colorado Rockies have paid Kris Bryant $101 million to play 170 games.
This breaks down to roughly $594,117 (and a whopping 65 cents) per game that Kris Briant has earned through the first four years of his seven year, $182 million contract that he signed prior to the 2022 season. In those 170 games, Bryant has hit .244/.324/.370 with 29 doubles, 17 home runs, and 61 RBIs to the tune of -1.6 wins above replacement per Baseball Reference.
What’s more important is what Bryant has done over the other
478 games during his Rockies tenure, or rather, what he hasn’t done: been on the field.
The former National League Rookie of the Year and MVP has been plagued by a variety of injuries since signing his contract. He’s missed significant time in each of his four seasons. However, it’s his most recent diagnosis that is the source of the Rockies’ troubles.
Among his other maladies—plantar fasciitis, a bruised heel, a fractured finger, and a rib contusion to name a few—Bryant has struggled with back issues since signing his contract. In early 2024 he revealed the extent of the damage.
“I guess it’s hard to speak on because I’m not a doctor, but the discs in my back are pretty much dried up, so there’s a couple of discs that … they don’t function like they did 10 years ago,” Bryant revealed to the Denver Post in May of last season. “My facet joints are a little — not a little — they are pretty severely arthritic, and (there are) a lot of bone spurs and stuff like that. It’s just part of getting older. That’s the way the doctor explained it to me. So I just have to find a way to manage it as best I can.”
Bryant appeared in just 37 games that year, but there was hope that—although he would never live up to his albatross of a contract—with a move to designated hitter and a reduced workload he could still potentially provide some value to the Rockies.
Things have only gotten worse since then. Bryant was diagnosed with lumbar degenerative disc disease in 2025 and he appeared in just 11 games. He revealed he was basically unable to perform any baseball activities without pain and the condition was unresponsive to treatment throughout the season.
“It was the running and the hitting the ground with my feet and the compression into my spine,” Bryant explained to the Denver Post. “And it’s the sharp bending-over sensations when I’m diving for a ball or diving back to the bag. Those quick movements that are unorthodox, those always got me.”
However, his condition has continued to worsen and is now affecting him off the field as well.
“If you asked me two or three months ago, I would say (my back pain) was not affecting my everyday life,” he said. “But now it is, which is really annoying to me because usually when you kind of just rest, it’s supposed to get better. So maybe I’m at a point where I should just do a bunch of stuff to see if that helps me.”
Extensive treatments including extensive rehabilitation and physical therapy, epidurals, and an ablation procedure last May have done little to help. He has also tried Pilates to strengthen his core at the suggestion of Rockies’ head trainer Keith Dugger. One of his few remaining options is lumbar disc fusion, a surgery that would undoubtedly spell an official end to his playing career.
Meanwhile, the Rockies are in the middle of the hunt for their new head of baseball operations. While there has been much in terms of secrecy—and confusion—the thought is that the new front office leader will be installed before the general manager meetings in Las Vegas begin next Monday.
Once a new head of baseball operations is chosen, he will have a lot of difficult and important evaluations and decisions to make. Arguably one of the crucial is just what to do with Kris Bryant.
Bryant’s three years and $81 million remaining on his contract are a shackle around the organization’s wrist not only in terms of the money spent, but also the roster space taken up by Bryant and the uncertainty of his future.
For many Rockies fans, it’s plain to see that Bryant is unlikely to ever suit up for the Rockies—or any team—again. Degenerative back conditions aren’t exactly something that improves with age and Bryant, now 34, hasn’t had any luck with treatment. However, Bryant himself has yet to admit that, even as he sat on the sidelines watching the Rockies careen off the cliff to a historically awful season whilst being unable to help.
“This past year, sitting back and having to watch was just sad,” he said to Patrick Saunders. “But watching the playoffs and seeing some of my friends still playing, that gives me the motivation to try and play. So I don’t have those conversations (about retirement), thank goodness, because I don’t want to. I just want to be a baseball player.”
Bryant has yet to speak with the Rockies about the end of his career as well.
“Personally, I don’t want to be involved in those (discussions) because I want to be a baseball player,” he said. “That’s the thing that eats at me the most. It’s tough to describe. I’ve played this game for 30 years now, not professionally, of course, but it’s all I have ever known.”
It’s difficult not to empathize with Bryant. Retiring means walking away from his best years and everything he’s ever known as an adult. What person in their 30s or older hasn’t dreamed of returning to their glory days when everything didn’t hurt and you were capable of doing what you loved the most?
Unfortunately for Bryant, waiting for the slight possibility he might return to being a productive player—or even being able to take the field at all—is a luxury the Colorado Rockies simply do not have. The team has cratered to rock bottom in the last seven seasons and a ground-up rebuild with the aforementioned new head of baseball operations is hopefully imminent.
One of the first things on the plate of Amiel Sawdaye, Matt Forman, or whomever is hired for the role should be a lengthy conversation with Kris Bryant’s camp. Bryant is absolutely owed his money, but paying him $27 million for each of the next three seasons and trying to find wiggle room on the 40-man roster when he has to be on it is an unnecessary hindrance towards the rebuild process.
There are solutions to be had, such as a deferred payment settlement based on the injury where the Rockies are able to stretch that $81 million over a longer period of time to free up resources. However, for any such solution to be reached, Bryant must first be willing to admit heartbreaking defeat.
If he is unwilling, than the one of the first vital tasks of the Rockies’ new head of baseball operations is would be an unenviable one.
To make him admit it. Both for the long term health of the organization but likely also the long term health of Kris Bryant.
Arizona Fall League
Mesa Solar Sox 6, Salt River Rafters 5
First baseman Charlie Condon was the only Rockies prospect to start for the Rafters on Sunday. He went 1-for-3 with a run, an RBI, and a walk without striking out. Jared Thomas made a brief appearance as a pinch runner in the ninth inning, but the Rafters were unable to come from behind for the victory. Reliever Austin Smith struck out two batters in 1 1/3 hitless and scoreless innings to finish out the game.
Rockies prospect Denton making most of AFL opportunity | MLB.com
After a solid season with the High-A Spokane Indians, reliever Cade Denton is performing well in the Arizona Fall League. His fastball velocity has returned to it’s 94-96 MPH range, which helps complete his arsenal so he can make the most of his strikeout stuff.
“He’s got some unique characteristics to his fastball,” said Rockies coordinator of pitching strategies and current Salt River pitching coach Flint Wallace. “So it doesn’t react like most hitters think it’s going to. And the velocity is back up. Those two combinations have brought some swing and miss, especially at the top of the zone later in counts.”
Despite Stellar Defense, Former Rockies Star Still Without Gold Glove | Sports Illustrated
Despite the Rockies trading him to the American League New York Yankees at the deadline, former franchise third baseman Ryan McMahon was still nominated for the National League Gold Glove at third base. He was one of just two Rockies nominees for hardware heading into the offseason alongside Hunter Goodman—the nominee for Silver Slugger. Unfortunately McMahon continues to be unable to claim his prize, despite being a nominee every season since taking over at third base. The award instead went to Ke’Bryan Hayes, once of the Pittsburgh Pirates and now of the Cincinnati Reds.
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