When baseball fans were initially putting together their lists of logical Juan Soto suitors before he hit free agency this winter, it was hard for the Chicago Cubs not to come to mind. Yes, success has been a bit harder to come by than you’d expect in recent years for the organization but Jed Hoyer and the Ricketts family have also been relatively aggressive over that span as well. So at least being in the mix for Soto would’ve made sense.
That never came to fruition, though. Even in the early stages of Soto’s courtship before it was ostensibly whittled down to the eventual finalists, the Cubs were not involved. It also seems that was by design when it comes to Hoyer and the front office in Chicago.
During the week of Christmas, though, Hoyer revealed a bit about the Cubs’ process and the front office’s thinking in why they were so uninvolved in the free agency pursuit.
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported that, while some thought the Cubs might “outspend” the rest of the NL Central to take full control of the division, Hoyer offered a more measured approach. And the result was ultimately, at least in the case of Soto, focusing more on cutting costs and salary, as evidenced by the Cody Bellinger trade, rather than spending big.
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When asked about the Cubs potentially being “all-in”, Hoyer’s response seemed to indicate his truth at the heart of the organization’s offseason approach, per Rogers.
“I always think that all-in is sort of a narrative,” Hoyer said. “You’re always doing moves for now and the future and trying to balance those.”
Here’s the thing, though — that shouldn’t be nearly good enough of an explanation for the Cubs. That’s especially true when they’re seeing a former rival of Hoyer and theirs, former Brewers GM David Stearns, work at the helm of the New York Mets and lead the charge to cut Soto an offer that he couldn’t refuse.
To be sure, Hoyer and the Cubs aren’t walking away from this winter with a worse roster than the one they came with. The Kyle Tucker trade was a stroke of genius. But it’s also a move that comes with risk, especially when you’re looking at the state of the club’s operations. Tucker is in the final year of club control, meaning he’s trending toward a mega deal next winter. How confident can we be that the Cubs will be willing to pony up for that?
Based on Hoyer’s comments, that’s hard to imagine. And again, that’s not good enough. It’s one thing to take a measured approach to an offseason. Sometimes, that’s necessary. However, the misbalance of spending on the likes of Bellinger, Shota Imanaga and so on then to turn around and produce such a tepid level of aggression is baffling. If the Cubs want to compete in a serious manner, Hoyer needs to come with a more concrete direction he’s taking things in.
What he’s saying right now, whether it was about Soto or anything else, doesn’t get the job done.
