Hoyer: “We Are Not Going to be Able to Keep This Group Together Forever”

As thousands of Cubs fans fill the Sheraton Chicago in hopes to hear about the upcoming Chicago Cubs season, GM Jed Hoyer broke some rather big news. In an interview with Dan Bernstein and Conner McKnight from 670 The Score, Hoyer spoke rather candidly about the young core.

Here, Hoyer talked about where they’re at in the offseason, and how this year has been slow. Typically, by the Cubs Convention, the offseason is dwindling down and your roster is mostly set. Maybe a surprise minor league impressed during Spring Training, or maybe they sign that last reliever. But for the most part, teams are drawing up ST plans by now.

“Usually at this time of year, you’re sort of wrapping up your offseason,” Hoyer said on the Bernstein & McKnight Show on Friday. “For us, I think — not that we haven’t been doing a lot of different things behind the scenes, but as far as the kind of moves that fans notice or get excited about, we’ve been quiet on that front. I guess I would just say I feel like our offseason isn’t just ending right now like it usually would be. It’s sort of like kind of just beginning. We will certainly be active leading up to the season. Yes, I think it’s fair to say this offseason for us has pushed back a little bit. We’re sort of just getting things started on some of the things we want to do.”

When there has been multiple billions of dollars spent in the offseason, and $1 billion of those dollars going to Scott Boras clients, it is a tough pill to swallow knowing there were quality guys on the market. Teams should rely on free agency, but they should absolutely reinforce their solid rosters when someone is available.

This really points to how much Kris Bryant’s grievance has put a major blockage in the Cubs offseason. There is a real effort to get under the Competative Balance Tax, and Bryant’s $18.6 million represents just enough to get under and provide wiggle room.

But, I don’t think it’s just about trading the superstar player. No, I mean, why would a franchise just offer out the clubs best player since possibly Ernie Banks?

His deal is holding up so much more.

Just signing Bryant to an extension, the Cubs and Bryant’s team will need to know how many years he has remaining now. Will the Cubs need to cover his 2019 salary of $18.6, or will they need to cover 2020’s as well, which will push somewhere around $40 to $42 million over the next two years.

His deal is also holding up what they can do with Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Willson Contreras, and Kyle Schwarber. The club cannot commit dollars to them, without knowing g what dollars will be committed to Bryant. To make matters somewhat more complex, they’re looming at multiyear impacts. How does paying Bryant impact their payroll in 2022, or even 2026? Which of the remaining players would they be able to include in that future, knowing Bryant could carry a $25 million AAV or up to a $30 million AAV?

If they elected to trade him, how does the return impact the roster and future? Does moving Bryant make it more or less feasible to sign the other guys?

But, it isn’t all about Bryant. The Cubs have approached *ALL* of their guys with extensions and *ALL* of them have declined.

“We had this young group that came through the farm system, that came up at the same time,” Hoyer said. “We offered all those guys extensions. We tried hard to really keep this group together for as long as we can. I think there are certain realities where we are not going to be able to keep this group together forever.”

Bryant is certainly the most complex, but the Cubs have approached Baez, Contreras, Schwarber, and Rizzo and they have turned the Cubs down. Now, perhaps the Cubs are offering well below market value, and if that’s the case, shame on them. This group knows they’re good, knows the money that is out there, and has already accomplished success. Theres literally no reason they should be expected to take “hometown discounts” to stay a Cub.

Maybe it is time to blow it up and start it over? If they can’t agree to terms with their current stars, maybe bringing in a fresh set of stars is the route?

I hate to sound doom and gloom, but when the GM starts saying things like, “we passed the point of being able to extend all those players,” it starts to speak to where they’re at as an organization. They don’t have access to the Ricketts piggy bank, they don’t have flexibility in their current payroll, maybe Cubs fans have to get used to the realization that a lot of this team will be gone in two years time?

“I think there are certain realities where we are not going to be able to keep this group together forever,” Hoyer continued. “It may be by them leaving through free agency. It may be by us trading some of them. We might be able to extend some of them. But I think in all honesty, we passed the point of being able to extend all those players. I think we had a moment in time where that might have been possible, and then we passed that. And so the reality is we’ve kept this group together for a long time by baseball standards.”

But hey, the team will be able to announce a trade tonight! That’s exciting…

The #Cubs today acquired RHP Casey Sadler from the Dodgers for minor league INF Clayton Daniel. pic.twitter.com/zRmcdvD0lc

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) January 17, 2020