Chicago Cubs: Breaking down Jed Hoyer's end-of-season press conference

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Jed Hoyer held a press conference Wednesday morning, answering questions relating to the game, the future and fixing the many holes in his team. He was noncommital, as is warranted by the timeline, keeping his cards close to the vest as far as budget and identifying individual players the Chicago Cubs might target.

Hoyer is clearly a knowledgable baseball man, and just as transparently a fan of the game, and those two traits came across with crystal clarity during the nearly hour-long question-and-answer session. He took the time to frame his answers extremely carefully, hemming and hawing at some length, but in the end some information either leaked out of could be gleaned from his offerings.

I’ve undertaken the task of attempting to translate some of the interpretive dance:

He was very positive regarding the current manager of the Cubs, who has one year remaining on his original contract (as well as a 2023 option), and about whom there have been recent indications of contract extension negotiations.

“I hope David’s here for a long time,” he said, in part. Which says that David Ross is looked upon with favor, has done well, but as of yet there is no additional financial commitment. Hitting coach Anthony Iapoce will hit the revolving door, as will longtime stalwart Mike Borzello. Neither would seem to be particularly difficult to replace. Chris Valaika is in-house as Iapoce’s former assistant but Hoyer didn’t commit to his promotion.

“This was the right time to make that break.” he said about Iapoce. Later Hoyer was asked about needing power arms on the staff, and actually seemed enthusiastic, using a full 10 minutes of the webcast talking about it in various stylized fashions. What emerged from behind the curtain and performed a pirouette was that the team was somewhat challenged in terms of contact pitching, and a subpar defensive effort didn’t help.

“We didn’t have power stuff in our arsenal. You need power pitching and you need power arms to win…” he said at one point, expanding to include the power arms in the system and rookies Keenan Thompson and Justin Steele.

“I think they’ll be a significant part of our team, going forward…” he said of the duo, going on to say they could be part of either the rotation or the bullpen depending on how the hand unfolds.

Chicago Cubs: CBA, contract extensions and an inconsistent offensive group

Player negotiations were touched on. Of course Hoyer didn’t name anyone. “I’m not gonna announce who we’re talking to.” He did speak at some length about how the team traditionally didn’t indulge in fall extension talks, but did allow that changes could be made.

Taylor McGregor asked about the CBA. “It’s our job to get ahead of that…the rules are gonna change…with how we do business.”

Which I take to mean that the conditions involved have been discussed some, and that there are some solutions to issues ‘in the pipeline’ so to speak, some tacit agreement (or agreements) in place for the Collective Bargaining Agreements talks, due to commence officially in December.

“I think Frank (Schwindel) is gonna be a big part of our team next year,” he allowed, without committing to a position. None of the other players were identified by name, but Hoyer seemed generally happy with their spirit if not their talent level or production.

“We gave some guys opportunities that they weren’t gonna have… it was nice to see the hunger in those guys,” he said in part. This could be seen as a little shade thrown in the direction of some departed players. Or a little more shade, as both Willson Contreras and Javier Báez have blocked some sun previously. Observers have noted that the Cubs’ clubhouse wasn’t as together as they had been in previous years. This would seem to represent that impression.

“The ability to hit the ball in the seats is real important…we did get one dimensional at times. We have to be a well-rounded offense,” Hoyer said, when talking about what kind of things he’d like to see change offensively.

Jed Hoyer says the Chicago Cubs aren’t “looking to win the offseason”

“I think things can change quickly, and I think that’s the goal,” he said, but then “You change it one piece at a time, improving a player at a time.” Which would seem, on the face of it, a contradiction, but it’s more building the jenga tower, as you need a whole stack of good and or parsimonious decisions to make the magic happen.

“Our rotation was short, and we weren’t effective enough in terms of run prevention,” Hoyer said, indicting both the staff and the defense. This. he said, was especially evident later in the season when the Gold Glove shortstop was plying his trade in Flushing and his apparent successor wasn’t able to suit up.

The Cubs expect good things from Nico Hoerner though: “He can be an impact defender,” Hoyer said, talking about how Hoerner had gotten off to a good defensive start. Many others disagree but few have the power to effect any sort of change there.

“We’re not looking to win the offseason,” he said, but “I expect to have the resources available to be active.” So the Cubs will ‘spend intelligently’ instead of throwing big dollars at every Tom, Dick, and Marcus Stroman out there.

It’s pretty evident what the Cubs need. But the people to fill those spots exactly may or may not be available, and how they substitute is going to be the prevailing narrative over the offseason. How the Cubs deal intelligently with those challenges will go a long way toward their possible success going forward.

Next. Compiling end-of-season grades for key Cubs players. dark

Jed Hoyer has a lot to prove, and frankly, the team’s track record in the areas that need improvement isn’t good. The only answer is winning. The jury is going to be out for some time.

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Chicago Cubs: Breaking down Jed Hoyer’s end-of-season press conference

Chicago Cubs: CBA, contract extensions and an inconsistent offensive group

Jed Hoyer says the Chicago Cubs aren’t “looking to win the offseason”

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