Cubs' Lester on Bryant demotion: 'It sucks'

Jon Lester didn't sign a six-year deal with the Chicago Cubs to lose baseball games, so it's no surprise that the left-hander strongly disapproved of the team's decision to demote top prospect Kris Bryant despite an exceptional spring. 

"It sucks," Lester told reporters Tuesday. "The quicker you can learn this game is a business, the better off you are. They can say development, development, development all they want but this game is a business and it comes down to that."

Bryant slashed .425/.477/1.175 with nine home runs and three doubles in 14 games this spring, but the Cubs opted to send him to the minor leagues to start the season in order to gain an additional year of team control. 

Despite the Major League Baseball Players Association threatening litigation following the demotion, Cubs president of baseball operations, Theo Epstein, defended the decision. 

While those like Lester don't agree with how things are handled, he has come to accept that it's all part of the process. 

"I can't control what (team president) Theo (Epstein) does, what Kris does, what anyone else does," Lester said. "We have to worry about what we do in this clubhouse and who's here now.

"We've all been there. He's just a little more high-profile than the rest of us coming up. I think you want anybody that is swinging the bat like he is. But at the same time we understand what's going on."

Mike Olt is projected to keep the seat at third base warm until mid-to-late April when Bryant is eligible to be called up.