{"id":32817,"date":"2025-02-10T00:56:32","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T00:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=32817"},"modified":"2025-02-10T00:56:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T00:56:32","slug":"as-pitchers-and-catchers-report-chicago-cubs-roster-improvements-come-with-a-big-picture-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=32817","title":{"rendered":"As pitchers and catchers report, Chicago Cubs\u2019 roster improvements come with a big-picture vision"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

MESA, Ariz. \u2014 The Chicago Cubs\u2019 offseason approach to improving a middling roster came with a vision.<\/p>\n

While they haven\u2019t won the National League Central division in a non-shortened season since 2017, the organization has a bigger focus as Cubs pitchers and catchers reported to camp Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

To get back to the postseason, something that\u2019s eluded them since 2020, they face challenging competition in the NL where the three highest payrolls in Major League Baseball belong to NL squads (New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies) with two others joining the Cubs in the top 10 (the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres). Winning the division would eliminate any battles to secure what could become a crowded wild-card race.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a hard-fought division, it\u2019s going to be a hard-fought league,\u201d president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Sunday. \u201cAs we thought about the offseason, both going into the offseason and throughout, is that wins are going to be at a premium in the National League, in particular, this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a competitive window. I think we\u2019ve gotten better each year. We\u2019re at a place where we have a chance to be really good and trying to really maximize our resources within our budget to make sure that we could do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cubs feature 11 new players on the 40-man roster coming into spring training, none bigger than superstar right fielder Kyle Tucker. Hoyer wouldn\u2019t delve into whether the Cubs still have enough financial resources and payroll flexibility to make a significant addition to the roster this spring, stating that talking about exact budget numbers is \u201calways a dangerous thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I would just say we\u2019ve been really focused this offseason trying to optimize as much we can within our budget to make sure that we are really competitive team,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cI think we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Cubs are going to make a splash with a free-agent acquisition, third baseman Alex Bregman continues to make the most sense. None of the seven players who started at least one game at third for the Cubs last year remain in the organization. Top prospect Matt Shaw will get a lot of reps there this spring for a chance to win the job out of camp.<\/p>\n

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The front office knows Cubs fans are clamoring for them to sign the 30-year-old Bregman and are fending off any rumors that circulate connecting the franchise to the two-time World Series champion. Hoyer considers this part of baseball to be an entertainment industry while general manager Carter Hawkins noted it\u2019s the byproduct of a fan base that wants the team to get better.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s times that there\u2019s rumors out there that have no basis in reality and you\u2019ll read an article that\u2019s thousands of words based on something that\u2019s never come up, so sometimes that\u2019s the nature of this business,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cThe reason we got into this in the first place is because baseball is an awesome fan sport. And to Carter\u2019s point, people care so much about the Cubs, it\u2019s why I love working here. That\u2019s just the nature of it. People deeply care about us. They want us to be a really good team. They want to talk about it. They want to think about different possibilities and that leads to a lot of rumors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fourteen years into his tenure with the organization as GM and now team president, Hoyer, who is entering the final year of his contract, has seen a lot through the Cubs\u2019 .518 winning percentage during that span. He acknowledged he hasn\u2019t personally endured much uncertainty in his career \u201cso I think with uncertainty does come a level of anxiety, that would be a lie to say that it doesn\u2019t.\u201d With it has come some introspection.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we put together a really good team,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cWe still have a really good farm system. I think every arrow is sort of pointing up on this organization right now. There\u2019s a lot more opportunity for me, for Carter than there is risk, and I\u2019m super proud of what we\u2019ve built with a lot of really good people. That\u2019s kind of how I look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cubs wouldn\u2019t have made the Tucker trade if there wasn\u2019t confidence within the organization that he could take them to another level. They know what is at stake this year. And while optimism and envisioning postseason baseball is often the theme for most teams when spring training gets underway, the Cubs cannot afford to again be sitting at home in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get to that place in the offseason towards the end where it just kind of feels like you\u2019re waiting for the first day of school,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cThat\u2019s what it feels like in a great way. I\u2019m excited to get here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally Published:

\u201cWins are going to be at a premium in the National League,\u201d Jed Hoyer said Sunday as the Chicago Cubs prepare for the 2025 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":32818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[946,282,624,317,780],"class_list":["post-32817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-carter-hawkins","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-jed-hoyer","tag-kyle-tucker","tag-spring-training"],"yoast_head":"\nAs pitchers and catchers report, Chicago Cubs\u2019 roster improvements come with a big-picture vision - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=32817\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As pitchers and catchers report, Chicago Cubs\u2019 roster improvements come with a big-picture vision - 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