What we learned from Jed Hoyer's Chicago Cubs end-of-season press conference

Chicago Cubs president Jed Hoyer took a look back at the year that was for his baseball team.

It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t mediocre, either. The Cubs won 92 games and won a playoff series for the first time in eight years. That has to be something.

Still, it wasn’t enough. Otherwise, the Cubs would be playing the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series right now.

In fact, the Cubs’ run reminded Hoyer what it was like to host October baseball. He wants more, too.

“I don’t ever remember players commenting on the crowds and the experience right after games the way they did repeatedly,” Hoyer said. “I’d come down here after games and the players would be talking about the energy or talking about the experience, and that was really cool. It was really cool to see. And you know, it leaves you wanting more, right?”

Here’s what we learned from Hoyers’ end-of-season press conference on Wednesday.

We’ll have to wait to get a sense of the Cubs’ offseason plans

Right now, the MLB Playoffs are in the championship series.

The Dodgers-Brewers and Mariners-Blue Jays series are reaching Game 3. The Cubs, instead, are watching from home.

What comes next will define how improved the Cubs’ roster is. That process will take time, and it requires some major decisions before those decisions unfold. It’s another way of saying there wasn’t much news coming from Addison Street on Wednesday.

There are questions about whether ownership will allow the Cubs to spend on high-level free agents in an effort to get over the hump.

When asked if the income from five playoff games will help in that endeavor, Hoyer wasn’t too committed to a definite answer.

“I’m confident that we’ll have enough money to field a good baseball team,” Hoyer said. However, having enough money and using it are two different things.

It seems like the answer to that question is still to come.

Decision No. 1 will be Kyle Tucker

The Cubs traded for Kyle Tucker knowing he had one year of team control.

Now, they have to make a decision: Try and re-sign Tucker, or be okay with the idea of letting him walk.

“We’ll certainly be having those conversations,” Hoyer said, in a statement that’s not exactly breaking news.

Tucker will command a large contract. Some evaluations say he might be worth a contract in the $300 million range. The biggest contract the Cubs have given was when Jason Heyward signed his 8-year, $184 million deal in 2016.

After the Game 5 loss to Milwaukee, Tucker didn’t sound like a player who was leaning towards staying in Chicago.

“I don’t know what the future is going to hold,” he said. “If not, it’s been an honor playing with all these guys and wish everyone best of luck whether its playing next year or not with them.”

Still, it’s a reminder of how this is a decision that’s out of the Cubs’ hands.

Like they had with Alex Bregman last offseason, the Cubs will negotiate and will most likely offer a contract they believe falls in line with their valuations. But, those negotiations will be in Casey Close’s, Tucker’s agent, hands.

“Now we’re sort of into free agency, and we’ll be talking Casey, and we’ll be having those conversations,” Hoyer said. “Like I said a bunch of times during the season, everyone can use a guy like Kyle Tucker… Everyone gets better by having a player like that.”

Still, Hoyer has no regrets about the trade deadline

In July, the Cubs swung for Andrew Kittredge, Michael Soroka and Willi Castro, among others, at the trade deadline.

It wasn’t the home-run swing fans wanted the Cubs to make. At the time, Hoyer said he was more conservative because he didn’t want to give up his top prospects in the Cubs’ pipeline for on a starting pitcher market he didn’t feel matched the value.

Now, he’s sticking to his guns. He has no real regrets about not getting a starting pitcher that would have deepened the Cubs’ rotation in the playoffs.

“I hadn’t really thought about that much since early August,” Hoyer said.

In the same answer, Hoyer mentioned that, as a top decision-maker for the Cubs, he doesn’t stop thinking about things he could do to improve the roster.

He now has an offseason to improve the team.

“I think you’re constantly thinking about what you can do,” Hoyer said.

The Cubs want to keep their core intact for a while

It was a banner year for the Cubs roster was a whole.

Michael Busch emerged with 38 home runs, including the playoffs, the bullpen developed into a talented group, Jameson Taillon and Cade Horton became fixtures in the rotation and a younger players established themselves as a core that can win 90 games and win a playoff series.

Hoyer noted he’s expecting to try begin extension talks with some players sooner rather than later. He’s already begun these discussions with some players.

It got out that Crow-Armstrong reportedly turned down an extension worth $75 million last April. While this paid off for Crow-Armstrong, who has undoubtedly earned a bigger payday after hitting 30 home runs, stealing 30 bases and hitting 30 doubles in 2025, Hoyer noted that these negotiations ideally would not go public like the Cubs’ talks with Crow-Armstrong did.

Still, the goal is to keep the core around.

“My hope and expectations is that we’ll have extension talks with a number of our players,” he said.

What we learned from Jed Hoyer’s Chicago Cubs end-of-season press conference

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