Chicago Cubs: Could Kris Bryant end up costing $400 million?

Will the Chicago Cubs have to pay up to $400 million to lock up Kris Bryant as their franchise superstar?

On a day in which Kyle Hendricks, Justin Wilson and Tommy LaStella all signed deals to avoid arbitration, Kris Bryant turned heads with his new deal.

Before he could reach an arbitration hearing of his own, Bryant signed a one-year $10.85 million contract to stay with the Chicago Cubs. While not as high as Josh Donaldson‘s new $23 million deal, Bryant’s contract set a record for first-year arbitration-eligible players.

And given what he’s already accomplished as a Cub, it shouldn’t surprise any of us that he earned that payday.

For those keeping score at home, Bryant enters his fourth big league season with a .288/.388/.915 slash, 94 home runs and 274 RBI. And, as we all know, he racked up Rookie of the Year and MVP honors in his first two seasons.

Plus, there’s the whole “him being the best player on the Chicago Cubs’ first World Series champion team in 108 years” thing.

Though last year showed a dropoff in his home run and RBIs, he certainly didn’t fall off on the whole. His .295/.409/.946 was the best yet of his young career.

In short, the Chicago Cubs definitely had to fork up the cash for his production, accomplishments and potential to yet get better.

More from Da Windy City

• 3 takeaways from Chicago Blackhawks shootout loss to Nashville
• Chicago Cubs in the middle of chaos that is Shohei Ohtani’s free agency
• The Chicago Cubs are on a roller coaster of emotions chasing Shohei Ohtani
• Chicago Bears quietly compiling list of head coaching candidates
• Chicago White Sox News: Erick Fedde signs two-year deal

That, of course, begs the question: how much will it take to keep Kris Bryant around on a long-term deal?

After all, a guy like Bryce Harper, someone the Cubs may have interest in signing next year, could make up to $400 million dollars on his next contract. On one hand, that’s completely crazy to imagine. But with Harper already a four-time All-Star and MVP at the tender of 25, can you actually discount the idea?

And though Bryant is slightly older and perhaps isn’t as popular, the numbers actually favor Bryant as a better player. No really.

Bryant beats out Harper in pretty much any category you can draw up if you look at 162-game averages: hits (174-166), home runs (33-32), RBI (97-89), doubles (37-31), average (.288-.285), OBP (.388-.386) and OPS (.915-.902). If you like WAR, Bryant has a greater average per season than Harper too (6.57-4.35).

Some of that might be due to Harper landing on the DL a few times, but doesn’t availability matter?

Bryant has never played less than 151 games in a season. Harper, on the other hand, has only topped that once.

So if you thought Bryant doesn’t have a shot at $400 million, you might need to rethink that. Because from where I’m sitting, Bryant is more deserving of being the highest-paid player in baseball than Harper.

Next: Chicago Cubs waiting for trade prices to come down

Now, the Chicago Cubs don’t necessarily have to address that situation at this exact moment. They have Bryant under contract for his first arbitration-eligible season, and they have up to hash this out. But if they really want to lock up their franchise player, it’s looking like the payout will be huge.

Right now, we can’t even say it won’t be “$400 million” huge. But at the very least, Kris Bryant could end up the richest man in baseball. And if he keeps playing like this, he’ll absolutely deserve it.