Kris Bryant will have the ultimate say on where he continues his MLB career once he becomes a free agent this winter, and affirmed that his high-powered agent, Scott Boras, is fully in alignment with the Giants star.
“This is something, this goes back to when I was a rookie, that was always his message to me, too,” Bryant said Thursday on KNBR. “That I make all the decisions in my career, he’s just there to give me advice. I feel like some of the perception he gets as an agent, like I read some of these things and it’s so stupid. Because he’s the furthest one from the guy influencing or making any player’s decisions.”
Bryant continued: “He wants to get the best out of you as a player, but I run the show. He said ‘you run the show and you are the show.'”
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The talk of whether Bryant would choose to remain in San Francisco after being acquired at the trade deadline in late July started as soon as the former NL MVP arrived. Boras famously has had a number of star players negotiate nine-figure contracts, but Bryant shut down any conversation about his agent making any decisions for him on his career.
“I run the show,” Bryant said in mid-August.
There seems to be mutual interest in Bryant returning, and the slugger repeatedly has expressed his appreciation for the overwhelming love and support he has gotten since being dealt to the Bay Area.
"I know it's all super new to me," Bryant told reporters on Aug. 16, "the whole being here and playing with these guys, but there's just something that feels a little different about it. It feels right. They're just really good people. They put their head down, they go to work, they're not flashy, and I kind of see myself as that type of player, too. And I think that's kind of what the Giants organization is all about. They want guys that are good people that go to work, keep their head down. Like I said, we're not flashy, we go out there and do the job and win and move on to the next one, and that's a good feeling."
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Bryant has performed well since joining the Orange and Black, slashing .273/.352/.532 in a Giants uniform. The Giants have maintained their place atop the NL West standings, although the Los Angeles Dodgers continue to be red-hot.
Bryant grew up a Barry Bonds fan and rooted for the Giants while growing up in Las Vegas, and signing his first long-term contract with his childhood team would something close to a dream come true. Bryant told Alex Pavlovic on the Giants Talk podcast that this year's Giants team reminds him of his 2016 Chicago Cubs group that won a World Series. It's hard to imagine replicating that run and winning a title in San Francisco wouldn't impact his ultimate choice on his future team.
Although Boras wields considerable influence among baseball's top stars, Bryant clearly will be making his free agency decision on his own once the 2021 season comes to an end.