President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer made his most definitive statements about the Cubs’ direction at the trade deadline before they opened a three-game series Monday against the National League Central-leading Brewers.
‘‘Unless things change over the next week, we probably won’t do a lot of moves that only help us for this year,’’ Hoyer said. ‘‘If moves help us in ’25 and beyond, I think we’re still exceptionally well-positioned. I think that’s what our focus will be. But just helping in ’24, that probably won’t be our focus unless things change dramatically.’’
He put in all the expected caveats, careful not to dismiss the Cubs’ three games against the Brewers, three at the Royals and one at the Reds before the trade deadline next Tuesday. But the fact that he was willing to speak as openly as he did suggested the front office had all but made up its mind.
The contrast between the Cubs’ preseason expectations and their deadline situation reflected just how disappointing their pre-All-Star break performance was. The Cubs (48-53) entered the series against the Brewers 10 games behind in the division and 3½ games out of the last NL wild-card spot.
When asked how much really could change in the span of a week, Hoyer referred to the Cubs’ eight-game winning streak last season between the All-Star break and the trade deadline.
‘‘Obviously, things can change,’’ he said. ‘‘But certainly the expectation is that we have a good sense of where we are in our game plan going forward.’’
That plan lives in the gray area somewhere between adding for a second-half push and pushing the reset button.
Hoyer never has believed in the combined buy/sell approach, a tightrope walk that relies on win-now moves balancing out corresponding cost-cutting measures. It’s a difficult balance to strike and doesn’t make sense for a large-market team, such as the Cubs.
Doing nothing, however, also would be a missed opportunity.
‘‘There’s very few times of the year that people actually transact,’’ Hoyer said. ‘‘Deadlines force action in this business.’’
The defining aspect of the Cubs’ middle-ground approach appears to be how far they’re looking into the future.
Early in the rebuild, the Cubs mostly acquired prospects who weren’t major-league-ready. Now they’re trying to squeeze something out of this season to maintain progress despite the play on the field.
‘‘This is not the conversation I expected to be having,’’ Hoyer said. ‘‘But you’ve got to react to it and make the best decisions possible.’’
The Cubs’ expectations were evident in their moves during the last eight months. Only a team with playoff aspirations would fire a manager (David Ross) who fell a game short of the postseason to make room for a renowned skipper (Craig Counsell) on a record-setting contract. And the move was still controversial when the Cubs did just that in November.
Look at the Cubs’ roster construction. Their big additions to the 2023 team were left-hander Shota Imanaga and first baseman Michael Busch, two polished rookies who have been among the best players on the team. Unlike the previous two seasons, the Cubs don’t have a group of players on expiring contracts serving as obvious trade bait.
Big names such as left-hander Justin Steele and second baseman Nico Hoerner get all the buzz as trade reports and speculation swirl. And the Cubs are expected to listen to calls about those players in case a team blows them away with an offer. But that’s unlikely to happen.
More likely is the kind of trade that swaps two players with years of club control, as one team’s need and another’s surplus align. Think along the lines of the trade last season that sent young outfielder Nelson Velázquez to the Royals for reliever Jose Cuas.
Does the Cubs’ plan, while focusing on improvements for the coming years, include a secondary goal of making the playoff this season?
‘‘If we have back-to-back months where we play like we did in April, that’s a possibility,’’ Hoyer said. ‘‘You never want to rule that out.’’
That ‘‘if,’’ however, is carrying a lot of weight.