Ivy League Cubs

By: Jacob Zanolla

Jed Hoyer hosted his End of Season press conference on Tuesday, something that was highly anticipated after another season which ended in an empty October calendar for the Cubs. I went back and listened to the whole discussion, and there were several points I wanted to discuss. 

 

The first note I had was that he didn’t make an opening statement, and instead just went right into the questions from reporters. This is unusual, and while it may not give any real news, most press conferences of this manner start with some sort of opening remark. 

 

 

Hoyer was asked about the difference between 2023 and 2024, where his team finished with the exact same record of 83-79. Hoyer responded, “I’m disappointed but optimistic. Any time you set a goal and fall short there is a disappointment. The expectation from the top down was to reach the playoffs this year, and we didn’t get there. We have to be better. I’m really excited about next year, we need to get back to the postseason for these fans.” There isn’t much to talk about here, just the fact that he will continue to say that he’s optimistic and that this season was a disappointment.

 

When asked about Cody Bellinger’s opt out, Hoyer kept mentioning how Bellinger would have “options.” Clearly Bellinger has a player option, but Hoyer is talking about the teams that may be interested in signing the utility power bat once November rolls around. Scott Boras loves to test free agency, although it didn’t go so well for him last winter. Even with the rough offseason he’s coming off of, he’s still Scott Boras. Testing the free agent market is his forte, and Bellinger was really solid in 2024, leading me to think he will indeed opt out.

 

Jed Hoyer’s two big offseason acquisitions were Shota Imanaga and Michael Busch, both of whom will receive NL Rookie of the Year votes. Most of the team played to their career numbers, yet the team didn’t improve at all. What did Hoyer have to say about this? “We fell into a collective slump in May and June that we couldn’t get out of, and it went way too long. We dug ourselves a hole that was way too big. We did that collectively, it wasn’t just the offense struggling, or the bullpen. We played really well in the 2nd half, but the teams we were chasing did a little bit better.” Every time I checked the box scores after a Cubs win in August or September, it seemed like the Braves and Mets had won as well, so Jed has a good point here. All throughout the summer, the mindset given by the team was that it wasn’t too late, and they were still a good team. Yes, they improved in the second half, but it doesn’t matter after you finish the first half in 5th place in the division. 

One thing Jed Hoyer mentioned multiple times was the weather at Wrigley Field, and how awful of a hitters park it was. He’s correct, with only T-Mobile Park being worse for hitters than Wrigley. However, weather isn’t something that we can predict before the season. Counsell talked about it multiple times, as have numerous reporters around the team. While the weather circumstances are unfortunate, they aren’t an excuse for why the team failed to win any games in that brutal two-month stretch. Scoring more runs would have clearly helped, but not blowing as many leads gets us so much closer to a playoff spot. 

 

Will the Cubs be more urgent this winter? 

Hoyer said he doesn’t want to take too big of swings, and that the “Playoffs are an expectation and not a surprise.” 2025 marks the end of Hoyer’s current contract as the President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs, so he is quite literally in do-or-die mode to save his job. The ironic part is that he’s one of the quietest and most calm executives in baseball, so we haven’t ever seen him get nervous or jump the gun on something. Whether that’s needed or not, I’ll discuss later. 

 

How involved will Craig Counsell be this winter? 

This was a question that many fans were wondering, and we found out that Counsell will indeed be deeply involved. Hoyer said that a big part of hiring him was so that he could be involved in the offseason. When Counsell was brought in to manage the Chicago Cubs last offseason, it was already November. A lot of the main offseason planning happens in October and early November, with the rest being mainly negotiations to try and find a price that the team and player are both ok with. Counsell is a fantastic manager, while also having the mind of a front office member. We’ve already seen him make changes to the coaching staff (although very small) and knowing that Hoyer has a smart manager to give him input is really exciting. I’m not saying David Ross wasn’t smart, but he wasn’t as involved as Counsell will be this winter. 

 

Are there any internal conversations about using the farm system as a currency to become a better team?

The Cubs have seven top-100 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, so the young talent is there. Hoyer said, “Young players are the most valuable currency there is. These young players will have a big impact on our future.” Yes, the young players can be useful on the major league team for years to come, but we also need to realize that it’s ok to trade some of them for major league talent. The Padres only have one homegrown player on their roster, with everyone else being acquired via free agency or trade. Prospects are all but guaranteed to work out in the big leagues, so packaging them for proven talent is often the right way to go.

 

Do we need a star?

The Cubs don’t have a “star” player. Shota Imanaga is very good, as is Justin Steele. Offensively, the most successful player is probably Seiya Suzuki, or even Ian Happ. Hoyer argues that players need to outperform projections, which is correct. The counterargument is that many stars outperformed projections this year, making them even better than they already were. Juan Soto is a great example, along with Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, and Francisco Lindor. Hoyer went on to say, “There’s no question that when you’re looking to beat projections, having players outperform expectations is a big part of it. We had a lot of guys that had good years or got back to their numbers. No one really had that carrying year, we missed that.”

 

Overall, it was a disappointing presser from the Cubs president. As disappointing as it was, that’s pretty on brand for Hoyer. He finds a few phrases to use each offseason and clings to those, repeating them to the press in order to keep the anonymity that makes him so unique. This fanbase wants to hear more aggressive quotes, mainly to reassure them after the failures of another mediocre season. It’s going to be a big offseason, and all we can do is wait and hope the right choices are made.

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