Jed Hoyer tells Cubs fans when the answer will happen for their biggest fear

The answer that every Chicago Cubs fans wants to know is when will Jed Hoyer add external reinforcements to the bullpen.

With Porter Hodge on the IL, Ryan Pressly trying to get corrected while working in low-leverage situations, and Daniel Palencia not quite ready for being a closer on a Major League team contending for the playoffs, the Cubs once again find themselves without an established closer entering the middle months of the 2025 season.

Even if Hodge had been healthy, it would seem likely that the Cubs would be in the market for a closer ahead of the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline in July. The issue with that belief is that the Cubs have to first get to that point.

Jed Hoyer was recently a guest on 670 The Score and provided a definitive timeline for when Cubs fans might be able to expect help to be on the way.

"Thinking about big external transactions, that’s really at least a month away, if not more. I think we got to focus on smaller transactions and we got to focus on getting healthy," Hoyer told The Score's morning show.

There aren't too many major trades that are going to happen in May. Especially for a team like the Cubs, seeking a high-leverage relief pitcher. Selling teams are going to hold onto their high-leverage relievers until there is a more defined market of interested teams. In other words, the Athletics aren't going to be trading Mason Miller to the Cubs right now because they are the one team with the biggest need.

There is another incentive behind why the Cubs will be waiting until the end of June to make a trade of consequence. That is when veterans who signed with a team during the offseason are eligible to be traded. Meaning, there will be an additional pool of players available to the Cubs who they can't currently trade for.

Waiting may not be the answer Cubs fans have been hoping for but it's the one that is front of them. The Cubs will need to hope they can find success with the relief pitchers they currently have, and once the rotation gets healthy, perhaps there is a discussion of moving Ben Brown to the bullpen. For now, the Cubs will keep applying band aids.