Cubs GM sounds totally disconnected in brutal trade deadline comments

We mentioned earlier this week that if there is a collapse for the 2025 Chicago Cubs, Carter Hawkins likely would be the fall guy, if there is one. The belief is that Hawkins is in the final year of his contract, and if the Cubs' season turns into a failure, the decision could be made to get a different voice in the team's front office to pair with Jed Hoyer.

The premise is that the Cubs' front office needs someone with a different philosophy than Hoyer's and someone who can challenge their conservative approach to baseball operations. Hawkins recently spoke with ESPN's Jesse Rogers, and his explanation of how the deadline unfolded is problematic.

"It's hard when you see other teams you're competing with get really good players, but those aren't decisions you're making in the moment," Hawkins said. "Their decisions you're making over the course of the week and month. It takes some discipline, especially in a moment when you see things moving that way, but we were able to stick to our approach and felt really good about the adds we were able to make."

Carter Hawkins puts foot in mouth with awkward Cubs deadline take

It's a pretty wild confession to make for the Cubs. It almost seems that the Cubs' front office ignored the fact that they were overtaken by the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the National League Central during the final days leading into the deadline. The Cubs' front office lacked awareness at the moment of the deadline, and now it looks like their only path to the postseason is through the wild card.

It only gets worse for Cubs fans as Hawkins also confessed that improving the 2025 Cubs wasn't the sole intent of the front office at this season's deadline.

"Teams are trying to find that guy that can lock down the eighth or ninth inning but that also costs a lot. That costs a lot of future wins. We have a responsibility to the 2025 Cubs but also the 2032 Cubs. That's not always popular in the moment, but it's decisions we have to make."

Let's be clear, when the Cubs traded for one season of Kyle Tucker, their sole responsibility became the 2025 Cubs. That doesn't mean being reckless and trading Cade Horton, but the idea that the 2032 Cubs, even in the slightest degree, played a part in the team's approach to the 2025 deadline is a massive failure.

If anything, Hawkins' comments are further proof that the front office has moved the goalposts for the season. Despite the impression being that 2025 was the season for the Cubs' front office to go for it, they very clearly think that is no longer the case. A risky belief to have, considering Tucker is heading toward free agency this winter.

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