Jed Hoyer surprises Cubs fans with abrupt ending to 2024 trade deadline

On the heels of the unexpected Christopher Morel-for-Isaac Paredes trade over the weekend, many expected the Chicago Cubs to be one of the busier teams leading up to Tuesday evening's MLB trade deadline.

But when it was 'pencils down', Jed Hoyer had made just one move, sending veteran reliever Mark Leiter Jr. to the New York Yankees in exchange for a pair of prospects. It was surprising, to say the least, given the prices some selling teams were able to fetch for pitchers, both starters and relievers alike.

Leading up to the deadline, several Cubs pitchers had been mentioned in trade rumors, including Hector Neris, Drew Smyly, Tyson Miller, Julian Merryweather, Jameson Taillon and Leiter Jr. Chicago wound up trading only one of them in what amounts to a fairly quiet deadline for a team that entered the day six games under .500, 11 games out in the division and six out in the wild-card race.

Cubs have a quieter-than-expected finish at the trade deadline

The few moves Hoyer did make aligned perfectly with his stated goal of adding players that can contribute in 2025 and beyond, but we'll have to wait and see just how big of an impact the organization's four new players will make.

Paredes is the closest to a 'sure thing' the Cubs acquired and the hope is he locks down the third base position, which has been a major black hole of late. Hard-throwing right-hander Nate Pearson had an inauspicious debut on Monday, but if he ever figures it out, watch out. We could see one of the prospects acquired from New York, Jack Neely, sooner rather than later in an early audition for a role in next year's pen, and it'll probably be a year or more before minor league utilityman Ben Cowles cracks the big league roster.

It's safe to say most expected, at the very least, a trade of Smyly or Taillon as a way to cut payroll heading into the offseason. Or perhaps moving Neris to make sure they don't end up seeing his option vest in the second half. Instead, deadline day came and went with just one move - and it left the fanbase wanting more.