Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer had his season-ending presser Wednesday morning and the biggest news was that there was no news.
Of course, you’re interested in what he had to say about
Kyle Tucker. Hoyer noted that Tucker had a huge impact on the team despite his injuries and struggles. For the entire season, he had the impact they hoped he would. Hoyer said, of course, that the Cubs will talk to him and his agent and noted that Tucker had a good experience and enjoyed playing in Chicago, but ultimately he has a big decision and has earned the right to be a “coveted free agent.”
What more would you expect him to say at this point? Hoyer did mention the experience players have playing in Chicago and that “word of mouth” gets around the league. You might recall that Yu Darvish had conversations with Seiya Suzuki when Suzuki was coming to MLB and those conversations were a factor in Suzuki signing with the Cubs. The Cubs, said Hoyer, treat players “first class” and I agree with that.
Will the money be there? We don’t know yet and neither does Hoyer, he said he had not yet had budgeting conversations and would know more after the general manager meetings, which will take place Nov. 10-13 in Las Vegas. A question was asked of Hoyer about all the extra money that came from eight postseason games and he kind of deflected it, just noting how great he thought the atmosphere at Wrigley was in the postseason and that he hadn’t seen that sort of thing since 2015-16. (I concur with that.)
In connection with budgeting, Hoyer was asked if there will be extensions past 2026, given that no one besides Dansby Swanson is signed to a long-term deal past next year. He said they hope to have those talks and that there a number of players they want to keep long term. Since they don’t know what will happen with the CBA, there’s “real uncertainty,” per Hoyer. Overall, though, Hoyer was noncommittal about bringing in an outside free agent hitter if Tucker leaves, and he said that the salary structure noted was “by design.” Make of that what you will.
Regarding the Shōta Imanaga contract, which has a complicated structure that Josh examined in After Dark, Hoyer said that there are decisions to be made and that they’ll do so over the next 2-3 weeks. But he added that he had nothing but positive things to say about Imanaga.
Then Hoyer was asked about “previous players returning.” Cody Bellinger’s name was mentioned, but I suspect the questioner was thinking about Kyle Schwarber, too. Of course, no one’s officially a free agent yet so Hoyer couldn’t and wouldn’t address specifics (no tampering!), but again brought up the “word of mouth” that’s helped bring players here in the past.
He was asked about a number of young players, including Cade Horton, Matt Shaw, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Owen Caissie and Moisés Ballesteros, and praised all of them, particularly Horton, who he said absolutely would have been on the NLCS roster if the Cubs had made it, though likely limited in innings. Hoyer expects Horton to have a “normal offseason.”
The entire coaching staff will be invited back, but as usual, Hoyer would not stand in the way of someone who wanted to move up. Rumors are already out there, as you likely know. Specifically, bench coach Ryan Flaherty’s name has been noted in connnection with some open managerial jobs, particularly in Baltimore, where he used to play.
Overall, Hoyer said he was proud of this year’s team and their overall consistent effort. He said the group connected well with each other and with the fanbase and was sad to see the season end not just because of losing out on further postseason play, but because the 2025 Cubs were a “special” group and that sort of connection then has to start over when Spring Training begins.
He was asked about all the “bullpenning” that went on during the postseason and how the Cubs had to face two bullpens with the Padres and Brewers who have multiple guys who can throw 100 miles per hour, and could the Cubs go about doing that. He said he thought the pen did a good job and that Craig Counsell did a good job managing it so guys didn’t get overworked and not to draw too many conclusions from “eight games against very good teams.” But he acknowledged the velocity thing and said he definitely took notice of that and concluded: “Bullpens are volatile, there’s no guarantee year to year.” That, I think you would agree, is certainly the case. We’ve seen that over the time Hoyer has run the Cubs baseball ops department. He also agreed that the Cubs need more pitching depth — but what team doesn’t?
All in all, it was a news conference with no real news. At this stage in the offseason, just four days after the Cubs’ 2025 season ended in Milwaukee, I don’t necessarily think there would be much news to be made. All of that will start in earnest five days after the World Series ends, when free agency begins.
And as always, we will await developments.
