How will Jed Hoyer construct the Cubs’ roster for 2026? | Mully & Haugh

don’t believe that the fans and you know he thanked the fans that’s great. I don’t believe that’s what is motivating him as to whether or not he comes back. I think that he’s waited for this moment to get to free agency and he’s looking for the most money he can get. That’s a quick dismissal of something that we thought would be important for Kyle Tucker when weighing his decision. And that was I thought the we had the Cubs had all seasons all season to sell Wrigley in the Cub experience to Kyle Tucker. So that when he posts on Instagram this, thank you Chicago for writing with us all year long. Y’all support that was there no matter what and we couldn’t have done it without you. Hashfly the W. So that’s not sincere. Um he doesn’t mean it. No, that doesn’t guarantee he’s coming back. That’s not a guarantee. I think that’s like a that’s a commitment. No, Kyle Tucker commits the Cubs. You know, it it kind of reminds me of his when he started talking in the third person about the team. Like he never used a pronoun about us about he talked about them. I I just Right. David, I’ve never felt like he was moved. I don’t I don’t know how emotional he is. I just think that was part of the issue. Yeah. You had an you had an exceedingly laid-back guy. Yes. Who we wanted to be we wanted to see him as excited to be a Cub as Cub fans were excited to see him here. And for the first two months of the season, it was like how you how would you ever live without him? You know, $400 million. Boom. Stamp. Let’s do it. It’s Tom Ricketts money. Who cares? And I think that that started to lessen and that started to diminish the more the the more he started to decline. And then we found out he played through a broken hand, hairline fracture, but it’s still a break. Yes. And then he got reinjured on September 2nd with the calf. Well, that was a problem because it affected his September productivity. Yes, it did. Now you just don’t know what to think. Number one, it impacted his post uh season performance, I think, without a doubt. without question because he wasn’t the same guy on the bases and you could tell he was compromised at the plate. But I do wonder this. Do you feel like the Cubs learned how to win without him? Is that a dangerous spot to be in? Because you don’t want to diminish one of the best players in baseball and he’s still probably win healthy a top 10ish player. They never attempted to win without him. They never attempt to like what what what is very interesting to me and we can talk about this and you can say that you’re out of your mind and I would not argue it but they never used Owen Casey. I know he got concussed and he got hurt at the end of the year. But even when Ian Hap was not uh on the boil, right, when he was not going well, they never brought up Casey and tried to play him, tried to give him time, tried to I I never felt they were looking at him as the potential replacement for Kyle Tucker. Never played him as much as I thought they might have been able to. Perhaps the greatest contradiction of 2025 from the Cubs standpoint and something I don’t think Jed adequately addressed yesterday despite addressing everything else in 51 minutes of transparency was that Jet, how do you explain the devotion to a prospect like Owen Casey at the trade deadline and then the reluctance to play him when it mattered, when he was healthy, because he would come up and he would sit. he would be healthy but he wouldn’t hit and I think that was the one thing is that now moving forward you wonder how that translates into their offseason planning we know and you have to be realistic it is Tom Rickettts in fairness he does spend enough money for the Cubs to be pennant contenders he doesn’t blow people away like Steve Cohen but you you do see the value probably in their point of view in having a player like Owen Casey who would be cheap and much more affordable than a bat like Cody Bellinger and certainly co Kyle Schwarber and Kyle Tucker. So you wonder if Owen Casey now suddenly becomes attractive again. Can I ask you this question? This is a silly question maybe, but do we know for a fact, do we believe that teams were inquiring about him in particular? I it seems when Jed was talking about the trade deadline and how he had no regrets about not getting a pitcher because he saw that the pitchers didn’t move and he also knows what the asking price was for the pitchers and he said of the Cubs they were asking for guys that helped us in the second half of the season. Well, he could be general like that and vague because but did did Owen Casey help them in the second half of the season? That’s why I think he’s I the reports indic indicated if you go back to that week or those weeks Owen Casey was the object of the des of of the Marlins desire I believe and there were other teams that were asking about him specifically but Kate Horton was also in the mix. That’s See, now that’s what I took away from the Washington Nationals. I think if they wanted Kate Horton and you’re not going to give up Kate Horton. Would the Pirates trade Paul Ske? Come on. No. No. Well, he’s not Paul Ske. I know he’s not Paul Ske. And I know, as much as I love Kate Horton, I know I I’m realistic there. But you’ve got Kate Horton, you’ve got Owen Casey, you’ve got Moises Bisteros, you’ve got Pete Crow Armstrong, you got a young core of guys, you got a that’s a group of guys that helped you in the second half. I don’t know that I would include Owen Casey in that or Elcantara or you know Kevin I think helped him a little bit. Who’s the who’s the pitcher the backup pitcher the the guy of the future? Wiggins is Jackson Wiggins did not come up and help him but he is going to be up next year if you believe the reports but Jed did address this yesterday. All of the guys that we mentioned are young players still on very affordable deals, but to lock them up as other teams in baseball have locked up their top pro prospects. Jed Hoyer addressed that possibility this off season. My hope um and expectation is that we’ll have extension talks with a number of our players this offseason. My hope and expectation is that you never find out about it. Um that’s that’s kind of what I would say. But yes, I think that um you know, we have we have a number of players that we’d love to sort of keep long term and and we’ll have those conversations and um you know, like I like using the Pete example, I’d love if those don’t get out, you know. Um but um yeah, I think that um we have we have clean books going forward. We have good players and we’ll we’ll have those conversations. And and I got to tell you, I love that answer. I thought it was funny, but Pete is an example. That’s a guy that they definitely need to get signed and that’s a guy they went to and couldn’t get signed. And that came out and that’s why he threw in that other part. But when I go through it, I’m thinking, well, Kate Horton makes sense. You know, PCA definitely makes sense. Bush makes sense. How many how many players are we talking about? How many guys are they talking about? And what’s the approach? Is it first guy to say yes his gets the pen? Here you go. Michael Bush, Pete Crow Armstrong, Cade Horton. Those are guys that have outplayed their contract. Those are at the major league level. I do wonder if he’s thinking also about a gamble. I don’t think they would do it with Moises Basteros. I don’t think they would do it with Owen Casey. But you do wonder, yeah, how aggressive they will be to lock this up. But you also think you have to remember they don’t want to be committed too much financially to anybody beyond 2026 because of the looming work stoppage. That is the thing that everybody fears, nobody wants, but everybody anticipates. So, you’ve got to be prepared for that. Here’s the one thing I wonder about the Cubs that we’re going to talk ourselves into a tizzy about all these free agent possibilities and trade proposals and the hot stove league which I don’t think is going to be very hot at all. And we’re going to get to February and welcome back to Mesa and Sloan Park and the Cubs opening day lineup. The projection will include Owen Casey in right field and Sea Suzuki as your DH. and I just don’t know. And they’ll add maybe a pitcher or two, but they don’t have a lot of flexibility in their everyday lineup. Alex Bregman is a possible free agent signing, but I just worry and I think we’ve learned from the past not to get our hopes up too high when it comes to him. So, I don’t know in the context because yesterday I heard Jed sound very proud of the team as he should be who won 92 games and beat the Padres’s in the wild card series. I did not hear a team executive hellbent on getting to the World Series next year no matter what. And I think the fan and everybody wants to hear the no matter what part when you’re hearing from an executive. And Jet isn’t reckless and he isn’t careless. And I think that he’s very careful. But in that transparency, I think that you saw a guy that’s going to be very much what did they call it a couple years ago? Intelligent spending. See that that’s I got a problem with that. I do. But do do you interpret it any differently? Well, I No, I I think you’re reading it perfectly well. I think what you wanted to hear when he talked about the budget moving forward, you wanted to hear, “I have been given a mandate by management to win the World Series at all costs.” And we are going to go out and get anybody that helps us to that end. We are going to get better immediately and we are going to try to win the World Series because great as this was, it ended too early. That kind of thing would have been awesome. But I don’t believe that for a second because I think that they they approved of the trade they made to get Kyle Tucker, right? And then they got rid of Cody Bellinger because they needed to reduce payroll. They did not get into the luxury tax. They needed to reduce payroll. That was a payroll dump of a of a move any way you look at it. And he ended up having a better season all in all than Tucker did. He certainly did. And then they also were after Alex Bregman, but they got approval to be in the conversation. They finished fourth fourth in that deal. They wouldn’t even if he hadn’t gone to where he to to Boston, he would have gone to Detroit. They did not approve of the amount of spending that would have cost to get that guy. And as you hear more reporting about that whole entire experience, you learn some things that maybe we didn’t know before about how you’re right about the Red Sox and then the Tigers and then somewhere along the way were the Cubs. But at the beginning of that process, the Cubs were reportedly given an opportunity to secure Alex Bregman with a commitment they were unwilling to make. And in terms of the length of the contract, now that could be revisionist history. We’ll find out moving forward how committed they or how much they like him. But I guess there are two ways to look at it. The way that we would look at it, I believe, would be Alex Bregman is the bat that helps you get over the top and you’re not going to be spending time in the postseason worried about running or hitting with runners in scoring position because he’s clutch. The other side of it will be Jed Hoyer talking yesterday about the totality of the season. You’ve got the fifth most productive offense in baseball. Why would you overspend for a third baseman when you already have Matt Shaw cheaper and on the way up? because Matt Shaw while uh one of the six players that are up for a Golden Glove and No, wasn’t he one of No, no, he’s not one of them. Matt Shaw is one of the six players that I believe Matt Shaw was was he on the list? Matt Shaw is on the list of six Cubs that are eligible for a Golden Glove. How did Yeah. And he finished second uh in the National League in defensive runs secured, right? Defensive runs saved. DRS. Yeah. DS. So, he did not I don’t think he’s going to get the golden glove, but Horner and Hap. Yes. Yeah. Uh I’m just saying, you know, number one, Danby Swanson should be on that list. I I don’t think there’s a doubt about that, especially if you watch the playoffs. Uh but number two, Shaw was on that list, and that’s a real achievement. But his bat didn’t play in the same way as his defense did. He didn’t. And I think you wonder about, yes, he’s good defensively. Yes, you didn’t expect that. But this is what I was talking about during the pick six in that question. Jed Hoyer looks at this team romantically. This the baseball romantic in him. You wonder will that how will that affect his ability to soberly look at this roster for 2026 and make the changes necessary to put the Cubs over the top. You have to have a ruthless approach to roster building in any sport. You got to get better. You got to get better. How do they get better? I 414. Stop speaking for all fans. Intelligent fans don’t want reckless spending because it rarely works. I don’t think I use the word reckless. I don’t think we said reckless spending. Thanks for weighing in 4014. Yeah, but but I mean, you know what? You have to add something. If you had to be different, if you’d hung on to Bellinger, that would have worked. If you signed Bregman, that would have worked. That is the reality. And you didn’t make that extra move. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, that those were two two specific moves they could have made. They also could have made something happen at the trade deadline for a pitcher who was better than Michael Sroka. Thank you. Okay. So, I I was on the playoff roster only because they traded for him. And that might sound mean, but that is just the reality of where they were at at the end of the year. Speaking of the rotation, Shota Imanaga has a very complicated, complex contract situation, but the bottom line is if you heard Jed Hoyer yesterday, well, let’s hear what he had to say because it didn’t sound like a guy getting ready to move on from Shota. When we signed Sha, um, if you sort of shown us his production over the last two years, he would have taken that in a heartbeat. So, not only has he produced for us, but um, you know, he’s just a great teammate, you know, terrific asset to to the organization. Um, obviously we have to have we have decisions to make and we have discussions to make and like we over the next two or three weeks we’ll do that, but um I’ve got nothing but positive things to say about show that’s an expensive fourth starter. It’s an expensive fifth starter, but sounds like they’re going to pay and they’re going to figure out a way creatively. There are a lot of different minations. Does it sound like Don’t you think? Well, I wonder. I mean, I He doesn’t say He says that he’s outproduced his contract. That’s basically what he says. Now, you know, as Theo taught us, you don’t pay people based on past production. It’s about for future. It’s about where you’re at. And and he was pretty bad at the end of the year. But having nothing but positive things to say about Shoda, if you say something about parting ways with him, that’s a negative. And if I think right I think that tells me that he wants to do everything within their power to bring back a guy that gave up 15 home runs in August and September. I’m just saying that’s the reality of it. And and I love Shota in the commercial and I think he’s great for the clubhouse, but I just don’t I hate that commercial. I’m just tired of it. I’m tired of it. You know, that is very amusing. But him coming back, where does he fit in? Because if you are projecting Justin Steel to return, see, now that’s a really good question. That’s one. That’s a guy that had Tommy John surgery. Yes. Okay, let’s put him three. So I No, I’m just saying. Doesn’t that take like more than one full year and he had it at the beginning of the year? I would be I would question whether he’d be available for training camp. I would imagine that would go into the season. I think he will be able to play, but usually you’re a year removed from Tommy John when things start going correctly. Yeah, I I think you’re probably right. Well, look, the Dodgers had 10 starters going into this season. So, you need to you need a surplus. You need redundancies. You need all the things you can afford. I’m just saying the to think of him as available from day one may be overestimating. Let’s go thenort. He’d need the uh he’d need the ability to recover like a professional wrestler to be able to do that. Horton is definitely Horton Boyd. Tyion. Okay. Shoda. Yes. Then who? Jackson Wiggins. Um could be Jackson Wiggins. Could be Ray. Could be How about How about Dylan Cece? It could be Ben Brown if they decided to teach him another pitch or he’s got all winter to learn one. If it’s still in cease, all of a sudden you’re a significantly better team. Okay, thank you. That’s what I think I’m starting to to lean toward. Framber Valdez. Oh my gosh, I love that idea. You may have to overpay for both guys. Well, you you bring in people like that and then all of a sudden your pitching issues are quieted and they’re not an issue and by the time you get to the playoffs, you’re going to be throwing complete games, etc. So before we break, bigger priority getting a hitter like Bregman or a pitcher like CE I I need to know is Tucker definitely gone because if Tucker’s gone you probably it’s a good answer. I don’t like it but it’s a good answer. You gota you got to know the certainty with K Tucker before you answer that

Mike Mulligan and David Haugh shared their takeaways from Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer’s season-ending press conference and discussed how they expect the club to approach this offseason.

#chicagocubs #mlb #baseball #cubs #baseball #mlbfreeagency #majorleaguebaseball

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27 comments

  1. If the Cubs had the highest payroll in the division, should they be able to dominate the division?

    Well, they have spent $550m more than the Brewers since 2018, and we still haven't beaten them after poaching their manager.

    Jed earned the job after Theo. Jed did what Tom asked post-COVID to rebuild the farm system and reduce payroll.

    Jed took a shot with Tucker to get an extension, not knowing when PCA, Busch, Shaw, and Horton would start contributing. He got his extension, but we couldn't beat the Brewers head-to-head in a playoff.

    Jed has to beat the Brewers and the rest of the Central consistently before any boss is going to give you more funds, when you already have $90m more in payroll than the team that is kicking your teeth in for the last 7 full seasons.

  3. what no one ever talks about. How did spending well over $300 mill work out for the NY met? How about the 1 WS title from the Yankee since mid 2000s. Spending doesn't guarantee anything whatsoever except for higher ticket prices

  4. mully – spending wrecklessly is stupid. Moronically stupid. Because it drives ticket prices and guarantees nothing. You have to have the right players. Period. Developing players is way more important anyway. But no one ever talks about that. They just want to spend like drunken sailors. And that makes zero sense.

  6. They didn’t bring up Cassie because they wanted to avoid any controversy regarding playing him in LF, RF or DH. Hoyer did not want to rock the boat.

  9. Don't understand blaming this on the pitching. Despite losing Steele and Horton, they did all they could. Bullpen for the most part excellent.
    The offense was brutal after early July. Tucker never the same, more pressure on everyone else. League figured out PCA. Seiya, Happ and Kelly cooled off.
    Top needs– one more legit closer (Diaz?) plus a bat to replace Tucker and maybe Happ. Amaya should help as he was raking when he went down.

  10. Bregman – 3.5 WAR, $40,000,000.00 Salary

    Shaw – 3.1 WAR, $800k salary

    Shut it about Bregman already.

    Also, in America it’s the Gold Glove. It’s only called the golden glove in Japan.

    Lastly, Steele had the internal brace procedure, which generally has a shorter recovery time.

    Come on guys…this is your job, not mine

  12. Get a bonafide #1 pitcher period!!!! It changed the cubs when they signed Lester. Get rid of Happ. Hes garbage and why too inconsistent.

  13. Trade for Skubal. He’s one year away from free agency and I doubt the tigers would break the bank for him. Empty the farm system for him but only if he will agree to a contract extension. But keep PCA, Busch, Shaw, Horton who are all major league ready. Everyone will be a question mark because they aren’t in the majors.

  15. Can’t read Tucker, looks like was uncomfortable, like he didn’t want to be a Cub . PCA needs to work on he’s bat , be patient at the plate . Let Caissie play, Shaw should develop his bat , get a stud starting pitcher. Can’t trade Horton & Caissie .

  20. They lost because they didn’t have home field advantage, and they didn’t have home advantage because they blew 20 saves. We live in a world where the Cubs were the worst in MLB at something, and nobody is talking about it.

  21. So if they want to sign PCA long term, which PCA are you setting the valuation on? First half “MVPete?” Or the lost at the plate second half PCA? People talk about Tucker playing well and the Cubs going well. Nobody mentions that PCA was on fire at the same time. I believe PCA goes….. we go….. He’s the key to this team winning. With Wrigleyplaying pitcher friend;y, the Cubs need to NOT BE CHEAP with the starting pitching aces. The Cubs seriously need 2 top of the line free agent starters. No doubt. You need a number 1 and 2. Cade Horton, Justin Steele, Jaxon Wiggins are the 3 future starters. They need like a Cease in there, Bieber, Michael King, Giolito, Ranger Suarez, Jack Flaherty, Framber Valdez. They need 1 if not 2. Esp if Shota isn’t brought back, which I think he is.

  25. 18 of Bellingers home runs came at home and that short porch at yankee stadium. He wouldn’t have done those numbers at wrigley. For whatever reason wrigley has become a terrible left handed hitter park. I am ok extending Shota but he can’t be your 2 and can’t be paid like he will be. We clearly need more power arms in the bullpen more than anything in my opinion. We just don’t have anyone outside of palencia who falls under that. You can get away with only having 2 pitches when you’re consistently touching 100+ mph.

  26. Chicago cubs pitchers need to do archery spring training and get ready and improve on the offense and slugging. We need some upgrade from trade some players to the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets and the New York Yankees could help the Cubs pitching to be improved on veterans experience in the World Series.

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