Javier Baez Comments on Contract Situation With Cubs and How it Might Affect Kris Bryant

The Chicago Cubs have quite the dilemma on their hands.

The organization is nowhere near where they want to be financially, but will eventually be forced to address the expiring contracts of franchise cornerstones Javier Baez and Kris Bryant.

Reports indicate that Chicago would prefer inking Baez to a deal, and the 27-year-old superstar recently spoke on what a lucrative extension for him would mean for Bryant's future in the Windy City.

"It’s up to them," Baez said of the club. "I hope we both stay here. Obviously, we want to keep everyone here because we pretty much have the team that we want. We got a lot of talent, pretty much everyone close to the same age. But it is what it is, man. It’s the business side. Obviously, not every year we’re going to have the same players, so we got to understand that and keep moving forward."

Welp, that quote will do anything but reassure Cubs fans.

Baez obviously wants nothing more than to keep Chicago's core intact for as long as possible, but he's also aware of the fact that the Ricketts family has been unyielding with its penny-pinching approach.

Couple that with the fact that Bryant is represented by super-agent Scott Boras, whose clients made well over $1 billion this offseason, and a potential extension for the former NL MVP appears all the more improbable.

We're not jumping to conclusions here, but there's a reason the Cubs are exploring the idea of trading Bryant: they want to cash in before they can't afford to retain him in free agency after the 2021 season.

Barring a shocking development, fans in Chicago should be bracing for an ugly breakup with their slugging third baseman.