Kris Bryant Left Out of Cubs' 2016 Reunion, Reportedly Blocked by Rockies
Ten years after the Chicago Cubs broke the longest championship drought in baseball history, the 2016 squad is back in town to celebrate that unforgettable run. But while fans at the Cubs Convention were treated to the return of familiar faces like Kyle Schwarber and Javier Báez, one name was conspicuously missing from the festivities: Kris Bryant.
According to reports, Bryant-arguably the most important position player on that 2016 title team-was not allowed to attend the reunion by his current team, the Colorado Rockies. And yes, that’s left plenty of fans scratching their heads.
Let’s be clear: this wasn’t just a casual get-together. This was the kickoff to a season-long celebration of one of the most iconic teams in baseball history.
Videos surfaced Thursday night showing members of the 2016 Cubs raising a glass together, smiling, laughing, and reliving the magic. But Bryant, who was the National League MVP that year and delivered some of the biggest moments of that postseason run, wasn’t part of it.
And that’s where things start to feel a little off.
Other players under contract with different teams were present-Schwarber, Báez, and more. So it’s not as if there’s a league-wide policy preventing active players from joining in.
The Rockies, by all accounts, made the call to keep Bryant from attending. And given the context of his current situation, it’s a decision that feels unnecessarily harsh.
A Career That’s Hit Too Many Speed Bumps
Since leaving Chicago in 2021, Bryant’s career has been a tough watch for fans who remember him as the golden boy of the North Side. After signing a seven-year deal with Colorado before the 2022 season, injuries have kept him off the field more than on it. He’s played just 170 games in a Rockies uniform, with a degenerative disc condition in his lower back-lumbar degenerative disc disease-casting serious doubt over the future of his playing career.
In his last public update back in November, Bryant admitted he couldn’t remember the last time he woke up feeling physically right. That’s a sobering statement from a player who, not long ago, was one of the most dynamic talents in the game.
And that’s what makes this latest development sting even more. For a player who helped lift a city out of a 108-year title drought, who delivered clutch hit after clutch hit in the postseason, who fielded the final out of Game 7 in Cleveland with that iconic smile on his face-being told he can’t join his former teammates for a weekend of celebration feels like a gut punch.
What the Rockies' Decision Says
Now, no one’s saying the Rockies have to make decisions based on nostalgia. But this wasn’t about on-field performance or team strategy. This was about letting a veteran player-who’s facing the very real possibility that his career could be winding down-spend a weekend reconnecting with the team that defined his legacy.
Instead, Bryant stayed home. And the Rockies, a franchise that has struggled to find relevance or direction for much of the past decade, added another head-scratcher to their list of questionable decisions.
To be fair, the team is still on the hook for the remaining $81 million on Bryant’s contract. But at this point, with the Rockies far from contention and Bryant’s health in limbo, what exactly was the harm in letting him have a moment with the team that made him a household name?
A Missing Piece of the Celebration
The 2016 Cubs were more than just a great team-they were a story. A team full of personalities and promise, finally delivering what generations of fans had waited their whole lives to see.
Kris Bryant was at the heart of that. His absence from this reunion didn’t go unnoticed-and it shouldn’t.
Baseball is about more than stats and contracts. It’s about moments. And the Rockies, in this case, took one of those moments away-not just from Bryant, but from the fans who still hold that 2016 team close to their hearts.
Whatever happens next in Bryant’s career, his place in Cubs history is secure. But this weekend was supposed to be a celebration of that legacy. And thanks to a puzzling decision from Colorado’s front office, it was missing a key piece.