Cubs' Epstein: 'Too early to speculate' about Bryant's spot on Opening Day roster

Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein remains unsure if Kris Bryant will be on the major-league roster on Opening Day, but he remains confident the 22-year-old can make an impact at some point next season.

“It’s too early to speculate about what the Opening Day roster’s going to look like,” Epstein told CSNChicago's Patrick Mooney on Tuesday. “When Bryant gets up here – just because of the amount of interest in him – I think it’s going to reach another level (with his debut). We’ll see whenever that is. I’m not as concerned about the start date as I am about the impact that he can make.

“He’s in a position – I told him this – where he can impact our 2015 season. Whether it happens from Opening Day or not, that remains to be seen. There are a lot of factors involved with team-building and roster flexibility and things of that nature."

Bryant emerged as one of the game's foremost prospects with his tremendous performance in 2014, blasting 43 homers with a 1.098 OPS through 138 games between Double-A and Triple-A.

But the third baseman is not yet on Chicago's 40-man roster. Should the Cubs opt to keep him in the minors through the nascent stages of the 2015 campaign, the club would gain an extra year of contractual control over Bryant.