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Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer joined the New York Post\u2019s Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman for an interview on the latest edition of The Show<\/em> podcast (YouTube link), and discussed a number of topics about both his team and baseball at large.\u00a0 Though we\u2019re still several weeks away from the July 31 trade deadline, Hoyer did address his first-place team\u2019s likeliest need.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re going to be looking for pitching, both rotation and in the bullpen<\/em>,\u201d Hoyer said.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s a secret.\u00a0 That\u2019s not a knock on the guys we have.\u00a0 But I think in today\u2019s game, you\u2019ve got to keep building depth<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Justin Steele<\/strong> pitched in just four games before his season was prematurely ended by a UCL revision surgery, thus robbing Wrigleyville of one of its top arms for almost the entirety of the 2025 campaign.\u00a0 Javier Assad<\/strong> hasn\u2019t pitched at all this season due to a pair of oblique injuries, and since he only started playing catch a couple of weeks ago, it would seem that a return prior to the All-Star break might not be in the cards.\u00a0 Shota Imanaga<\/strong> hasn\u2019t pitched since May 4 due to a hamstring strain, and Hoyer said \u201cthe hope is<\/em>\u201d Imanaga will be able to return to the rotation before the end of June.<\/p>\n Without their two top pitchers and another hurler in Assad that expected to at least compete for a back-end rotation job, Chicago has done well to hold its own on the rotation front even with such a depleted set of starters.\u00a0 Hoyer made a point of praising his in-house starters and his team\u2019s defense for helping the run-prevention efforts, yet bringing at least one starting pitcher into the fold seems like a logical way to reinforce the roster heading into the pennant drive.<\/p>\n As one might expect, Hoyer didn\u2019t share any hints about how big of a splash the Cubs are looking to make at the deadline, and still couched his comments within the framework of \u201cif<\/em>\u201d the front office chose to make any additions by July 31.\u00a0 It could be that Hoyer may not know the answer to such questions himself at the moment, as the Cubs\u2019 trade pursuits may hinge on Imanaga\u2019s assumed healthy status by July 31, Assad\u2019s progress, or any other injuries or pitchers who are under- or overachieving in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Hoyer also said that Porter Hodge<\/strong> is expected to return from his own oblique injury before June is out, which will bring another high-leverage candidate back to help the relief corps.\u00a0 As Hoyer put it, however, bullpens are \u201calways a work in progress\u2026I don\u2019t think you ever get to a point of feeling comfortable or feeling like it\u2019s a set thing<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 With this in mind, the pen will be a focus both on July 31, and \u201cwe\u2019ll keep on making small transactions [before the deadline] as well to get marginally better<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n On the flip side of the equation, Hoyer doesn\u2019t see the Cubs doing much to alter its impressive core of position players on the trade front.\u00a0 The Cubs have been one of baseball\u2019s best hitting teams, with the powerful offense helping make up for any of the pitching staff\u2019s shortcomings.<\/p>\n \u201cBarring injury, there are probably some small things [we\u2019ll consider] on the offensive side, but really I think that our position-playing group has been really good\u2026.The depth we have, top to bottom, I think we\u2019re getting production both offensively and defensively from all our spots.\u00a0 That\u2019s made a huge difference.\u00a0 As I think about it, pitching is the likely direction we would take if we were adding [at the deadline]<\/em>,\u201d Hoyer said.<\/p>\n In terms of other topics, Hoyer said he wouldn\u2019t comment publicly on either the existence of any extensions talks between the Cubs and Kyle Tucker<\/strong>, or even any talks between himself and the team on a new deal, as Hoyer\u2019s current contract is up after the 2025 season.\u00a0 Hoyer repeated past comments about how he hoped Tucker would stay in Chicago over the long term, and how much he has enjoyed his own 14-season tenure in the organization as first a general manager and then the head of the baseball operations department.<\/p>\n Hoyer did go into a little more detail about what might now be the most impactful trade of his five-year run as PBO \u2014 the July 2021 deadline deal that brought Pete Crow-Armstrong<\/strong> to the then-rebuilding Cubs from the Mets for Javier Baez<\/strong>, Trevor Williams<\/strong>, and some cash considerations.\u00a0 New York took Crow-Armstrong 19th overall in the 2020 draft so it wasn\u2019t as if PCA was an unknown quantity, yet a shoulder surgery limited the outfielder to only six games in his first pro season.<\/p>\n The Mets weren\u2019t willing to discuss moving more highly-touted prospects at the time, as Hoyer said such players as Francisco Alvarez<\/strong>, Matt Allan<\/strong>, and Brett Baty<\/strong> were \u201coff the table<\/em>\u201d in trade talks.\u00a0 Mark Vientos<\/strong> \u201cwas a guy that was kind of discussed a little bit but it was clear they didn\u2019t want to part with him<\/em>,\u201d Hoyer noted, so discussions turned towards elsewhere on New York\u2019s minor league depth chart.<\/p>\n Crow-Armstrong \u201cwas sort of out of sight, out of mind, I believe<\/em>,\u201d Hoyer said.\u00a0 \u201cLooking back, I think his injury didn\u2019t allow him to perform, and therefore I think he became a guy [the Mets] were willing to trade in that deal.\u00a0 So I think it was good fortune for us that they did take some really good players off the table, and most of those guys are helping the Mets right now, but Pete\u2019s injury allowed that to happen and it worked out really well for us<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n While Hoyer felt Crow-Armstrong was going to improve as a hitter during his second full Major League season, even the executive admitted to being a little surprised at the extent of the breakout.\u00a0 PCA has been one of the very best all-around players in the sport, delivering 17 homers, 21 stolen bases, and a .277\/.313\/.559 slash line over 275 plate appearances while also playing Gold Glove-level defense in center field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Cubs’ front office boss discusses such topics as the deadline and PCA’s breakout. Visit MLB Trade Rumors for more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2060,1200,624,2171,2172,1086,2173,117],"class_list":["post-60700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-brett-baty","tag-francisco-alvarez","tag-jed-hoyer","tag-mark-vientos","tag-matt-allan","tag-pete-crow-armstrong","tag-porter-hodge","tag-shota-imanaga"],"yoast_head":"\n