The Jed Hoyer-era of Cubs baseball has officially begun and the new president of baseball operations didn’t waste any time discussing what’s been on the minds of onlookers for the last few years.
What will happen to the Cubs’ core?
That answer will likely come over the next few months and teams like the Cubs start to figure out their financial status for 2021. Hoyer lined up what the organization’s thought process will be as they begin to make its short- and long-term decisions.
“I think with this offseason, there is a lot of uncertainty,” Hoyer said. “I think it’s gonna probably move a little bit slower than some offseason, so I think we may try to get a sense of the landscape before we move forward.
“We’re not gonna wait forever, but I do think waiting a little bit and trying to figure out exactly what happens this winter makes a lot of sense.”
Kris Bryant, Javy Baez, Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber will all become free agents after the 2021 season, and while one of the Cubs’ stars leaving via trade or free agency has always been a possibility, it will become a reality sooner rather than later.
“I think in this job, you always have one eye on the present and one eye on the future,” Hoyer said. “And I think the truth is that, given the service time realities that I mentioned, I think that eye might be a little bit more focused towards the future than usual. But that doesn’t take away from the goal. And like I said, the goal is always to make the playoffs and give the organization a chance.”
None of those things should come as a surprise and given the Cubs disappointing finishes in 2018, ‘19 and ‘20, the desire to change what has been the status quo, may be what they need.
According to Hoyer, the team is not currently engaged in any contract extension talks with any of its players, but reiterated they could restart soon.
Not only have fans and media known what was on the Cubs’ horizon, but players have aa well and during the season, they made that very clear.
“I’m not gonna shy away from it — this could be our last year together and I think we all know that, especially with the state of the game and who knows what’s going to happen,” Rizzo said.
“I hope I never leave this city in my whole career, but anything can happen,” Baez said last month. “Hopefully, I stay here my whole career.
“I’m pretty sure there’s not another organization like this one. I’ve never been in another one, but I feel like everybody that comes through here, they don’t want to leave.”
Unfortunately for Baez, somebody will have to leave and it’s still to be determined how many of the Cubs core players will still be around when Spring Training eventually begins.
If there is one thing that remains clear about the Cubs, it’s that they are open for business and change. With that said, a full rebuild doesn’t sound like it’s in the cards.
The Cubs’ new president sounds confident in the team’s ability to continue to put a winning product on the field despite trying to “thread the needle” on preparing for the future.
“I would always take Jed’s recommendation on what to do with what happens on the field,” Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said. “But I don’t think anybody’s tearing anything down.”
“I think given our resources and given our talent level, I think we should field a team that’s playoff-worthy every single year,” Hoyer said. “And I think we can do that and have a team that’s positioned long term as well.”
