Ranking the 5 best moves the Chicago Cubs have made in the Jed Hoyer era

2. Signing Seiya Suzuki

Seiya Suzuki signed with the Cubs before the 2022 season for a five-year deal worth $85 million. It was a smart move that has paid off on the field, on the payroll and in the Cubs' future international free-agency pursuits.

Suzuki has arguably been the most consistent batter on the Cubs over the last two years. He's a disciplined hitter who takes his walks, hits for average (.283 in 2024) and hits the ball with authority. Although his defense did not pan out as expected when he came over from Japan, and he will likely be the team's designated hitter with Tucker coming aboard, Suzuki can still provide a solid big-league at-bat. And maybe focusing on hitting full-time will unlock more of his potential and finally see the 30-year-old eclipse 25 home runs.

Another aspect of Suzuki's contract is that he attracts other Japanese players. The Cubs have fostered a good environment for Japanese players to feel comfortable and excel. This also goes back to the Cubs signing Yu Darvish a few years prior. Although Darvish was eventually traded to the San Diego Padres when the Cubs started their rebuild, he still speaks highly about the Cubs and helped convince both Suzuki and Shota Imanaga to sign with Chicago.

Suzuki and Imanaga are now two vital players to the Cubs' future success and their positive experiences and on-the-field success are also the main reasons why Chicago is in the running for Roki Sasaki, the next big Japanese free agent.

1. Replenishing the farm system

This is sort of a few moves wrapped into one large decision that Jed Hoyer made in 2021. And that was to sell off his former World Series-winning players and begin what was in practice a rebuild. This was a rough way for Hoyer to begin his tenure as the Cubs' shot-caller, but this was the correct way forward in hindsight.

Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez have not been the same players since leaving Chicago. Bryant has been the victim of many unfortunate injuries that have significantly limited his playing time. Rizzo is getting into his late 30's and not producing at nearly the level he did for the Cubs in th emid-2010's. And Baez looks like a shell of his former self after signing a large deal with the Detroit Tigers.

It was a tough decision, but it was one that netted the Cubs several players that are becoming cornerstones of the team's future, including Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kevin Alcantara and Owen Caissie. Hoyer also oversaw the Cubs' transition into focusing on drafting and developing pitching. This is a departure from the previous philosophy of developing hitting and paying for pitching during the Theo Epstein era. This has seen the team develop contributors like Justin Steele, Jordan Wicks, Javier Assad and Porter Hodge.

Others are coming like Cade Horton and Brandon Birdsell. This era marks the first time in decades the Cubs have developed their own pitching prospects into capable major league starting pitchers. Hoyer hired guys like Craig Breslow and Carter Hawkins to help oversee this new era of pitching development, and it continues with the hiring of pitching guru Tyler Zombro.

This not only helps fill out the major league roster, but pitchers throughout the Cubs' organization are becoming valuable to other teams. Flame-throwing reliever Hunter Bigge became a vital trade chip last deadline when the team acquired Isaac Paredes from the Tampa Bay Rays. Paredes later became the main piece of the Tucker trade.

The Cubs simply wouldn't be where they are today if Hoyer hadn't shifted the organization's development philosophy and pulled the trigger on a rebuild. Hopefully the results start showing up on the field but it's hard to look back and think he should have done much differently at the 2021 trade deadline.