Colorado Rockies: The picture that shows that Kris Bryant deal was a decade in the making

The baseball world was stunned when the Colorado Rockies inked free agent outfielder/third baseman Kris Bryant to a seven-year deal for $182 million.

However, it wasn’t as surprising for some people if they knew of Bryant’s relationship with Bill Schmidt, a relationship that goes back nearly a decade to when Bryant was drafted in the 2013 Draft by the Chicago Cubs with the second overall pick.

As Bryant revealed in his introductory press conference last week, he thought that the Rockies (who had the next pick after the Cubs) were going to pick him. Since Bryant was off the board, the Rockies drafted Jon Gray.

But there is one picture that shows that Kris Bryant wanted to be a member of the Colorado Rockies before that.

Kris Bryant wanted to be on the Colorado Rockies at least as far back as 2012

Kris Bryant’s wife, Jess, shared a picture of Kris on her Instagram story, where he was wearing a Colorado Rockies uniform (while eating Raising Cane’s) in a picture posted on June 4, 2012, a full year before he was even drafted.

The Rockies Twitter account posted the picture as well.

https://twitter.com/Rockies/status/1504972360918573056?s=20&t=MYy3HL1MjBMRMvaRep0LQw

Bryant beamed numerous times during his press conference about wanting to be the Rockies because he has always loved the city, the culture, and the people but he became even more fond of the team when he was a member of the NL All-Star team at Coors Field last year and he got to see the home facilities.

All of that coupled with his prior relationship with Bill Schmidt, the Rockies’ need for a big bat and desire to have that big bat made it a perfect fit for both sides.

Bryant does not have any opt-outs in his seven-year deal and he has a full no-trade clause so the only way that Kris Bryant won’t be in a Rockies uniform through the 2028 season without him making the decision is if the Rockies release him and eat his contract.

Hopefully for the Rockies, Bryant, and (most importantly) Rockies fans, that won’t happen and Bryant can help bring that “elusive World Series” to Colorado.