One Chicago Cubs roster move that Jed Hoyer has to make this offseason

Despite entering the final year of his contract as the President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs, Jed Hoyer did not appear to feel any sense of urgency when addressing reporters during his end-of-season press conference on Tuesday.

Beyond doubling down on the idea that the Cubs have to outperform their projections in 2025, he also touted the team's farm system as the primary reason why the organization is healthy. The one thing that has been constant about the Cubs throughout the 2024 season has been the hype surrounding their prospects.

There is no doubt that prospects are an invaluable part to the healthy of any baseball organization but Hoyer may be missing the opportunity the arises when having multiple top prospects.

Prospects can either fill a need that the team has on the Major League Roster and if not, they should be used as currency in trades. The one maddening part of Hoyer's prioritization of improving the farm system is he is at the point where he needs to decide.

The Cubs' top prospects will define the offseason plan.

The Cubs have been notoriously slow with prospect promotions as an organization. That is fine if the pipeline of sustainable talent has already been established between Triple-A and the Major League roster, but that hasn't been the case for the Cubs' position players. Entering a season where the Cubs have to contend at the Major League level or there will be front office changes, Hoyer must begin to trade from their prospect capital if they aren't going to be a part of the Major League roster at the start of the 2025 season.

No, we are not saying the Cubs should trade their top prospects this offseason because there is no current path to playing time for them at the Major League level. But, we are saying that if the Toronto Blue Jays make Vladimir Guerrero Jr. available, Hoyer needs to not hesitate in using his prospects like he may have done last offseason with Juan Soto. Hoyer has used prospects as a crutch for why his regime has been successful but we're at the point where there needs to be proof of that on the Major League roster.