CHICAGO — Tucked away in the corner of the fourth floor of the Sheraton Riverwalk, Jed Hoyer and Nico Hoerner tried to find a quiet place to talk.

It was the opening night of the Cubs Convention, so that wasn’t easy.

Hoyer, the Cubs’ president of baseball operations, had just signed third baseman Alex Bregman to a blockbuster five-year, $175 million deal. Because of payroll and roster logistics, Hoerner, who was entering his walk year, was knee-deep in trade rumors.

So with that lingering uncertainty, the two had a long chat outside of the room where the Cubs and their families were partying after the opening ceremonies of the fan convention.

I should know because I watched it happen. So did several other reporters who were waiting to talk to new Cubs Hall of Famer Jon Lester. Hoerner’s situation was a juicy storyline in January, and while it wouldn’t have made baseball sense to trade Hoerner after a win-now signing like Bregman, Hoyer had been operating under a fairly strict budget, so no one could be sure.

So what did they talk about?

“The details of that conversation I would leave to us,” Hoyer told me the other day, “but the gist of it was like, hey, we’d love to sign you, and we were gonna be talking to Adam (Karon, Hoerner’s agent). Just because we made that signing, we’re not looking to trade you. Actually, we would love to sign you.”

Two months later, Hoyer did just that, agreeing with Hoerner on a six-year, $141 million extension. Not bad money for a guy with 36 career home runs in 702 games going into the season. And Hoerner’s deal — announced not long after Pete Crow-Armstrong’s extension — was universally celebrated in Chicago.

For one, it symbolized that the Cubs weren’t going cheap, which had been the franchise’s dominant storyline for years after the 2021 fire sale that officially ended the World Series era. For another, everyone loved the deal because, well, everyone loves Nico.

Players, fans, teammates. Everyone.

“It’s hard to put into words how deserving he is,” Hoerner’s double-play partner, Dansby Swanson, told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal in April.

Crow-Armstrong has star power, and Bregman has a bigger name, but Hoerner, who debuted as a late-season fill-in for Javy Báez in 2019, has developed into this era’s Anthony Rizzo, the guy who embodies the organization.

“He’s a really talented player, and he does so many things on the field to help you win,” Hoyer said. “But on top of that, he’s an A-plus human with A-plus competitiveness. You get the talent, which I think everyone sees, but also he is just the kind of person you want on your team and in an organization.”

Or to put more succinctly:

“He is the Cubs,” Crow-Armstrong told me last Friday. “He is our f—ing heartbeat.”

A few weeks ago, Crow-Armstrong told a TV reporter that Hoerner was his favorite player. So I asked him to elaborate.

“Well,” he said. “I’m luckier than most because I get to be around him every day.”

Crow-Armstrong, 24, said some of the reasons he looks up to Hoerner, who turns 29 this month, are because of his intentionality and his preparation. Hoerner is a guy who shows up to work, and his teammates respect it. But beyond that, the two-time Gold Glove winner is just an aesthetically appealing ballplayer.

“I think for someone that is looking to find some consistency in their baseball life, he’s the perfect model of that,” Crow-Armstrong said. “But you can’t not love the way that he’s just all-around. He’s exciting on defense, he’s exciting at the plate, you want him on base because he’s going to run the pillows. He just literally does everything f—ing right.”

The Cubs are no strangers to signing players for defense and intangibles, having paid Jason Heyward $184 million and Swanson $177 million in the last decade. Bregman’s leadership and intensity were part of his pay package as well.

But Hoerner’s deal was eye-opening, even for him.

“I don’t think it changes how I see myself,” he said. “I thought it was interesting from the standpoint of what can be valued in our sport. I guess probably coming into this whole thing, just as a professional. I didn’t think a contract like that would necessarily be possible without a big change in my game, obviously, toward more power and things like that. Our tradition is valued, but yeah … so it is fine to be able to reach things like that by being myself.”

Hoerner is so well-regarded that his deal has the fourth-highest amount of guaranteed money for a second baseman. The Cubs are a data-driven organization, so that influences their regard for him, but then there are plays like the one he made in Los Angeles on the team’s recent road trip, where he fielded a ricochet with his bare hand while in the air and made a throw to first for an out.

Last week’s NL Player of the Week makes this week’s Play of the Week 🤩

Nico Hoerner can do it all! pic.twitter.com/oZ94sAnYQl

— MLB (@MLB) April 27, 2026

“I mean, those are plays, they’re just pure reaction athleticism,” said manager Craig Counsell, a former infielder himself. “We’re not practicing them. You just get an opportunity to make a fun play at a big spot, and you make it. That’s what the best defenders in the world do, they give us those highlights.”

“You kind of feel a little bit like a fan watching that,” Hoyer said. “It’s just an incredible play.”

Thanks to his defensive prowess, Hoerner has averaged just under 5 bWAR, and he has a .284/.339/.389 slash line over the past four seasons. Last year, he started heating up at the plate at the end of August, and it carried through into the playoffs, where he put up a .419/.424/.548 slash line in eight games. He’s hitting .302 with an .841 OPS for the first-place Cubs this season, including four homers in two weeks in April.

The Cubs have been working with Hoerner on being both more selective in the pitches he swings at and more aggressive in what he’s trying to do with them.

“I think when he’s at his best, he’s trying to do the damage,” Hoyer said. “I think you’re seeing that more and more.”

Hoerner sees it as “just being a simpler, stronger version of myself.”

“I just hope I always keep the perspective of looking for ways to improve but holding on to the things that I know I do well,” he said.

Hoerner is now the Cub that parents and coaches can point to as an example of what to do and how to play. But beyond that Gil Thorp stuff, fans can simply enjoy watching a base-hit machine with Gold Glove qualities.

The other day, my wife said Hoerner was her favorite Cubs player since Jody Davis. Then she said to scratch that because it made her sound old and changed her answer to Mark Grace. Though Hoerner doesn’t smoke heaters during games or prowl the city’s bars at night, I think Grace is a pretty good comp. (Hoerner also gets some Ryne Sandberg love, because of the shared position.)

Now in his eighth season with the Cubs, Hoerner has grown from underrated to properly rated. You’ll start seeing more No. 2 jerseys pop up at Wrigley Field, and he’ll keep taking pictures at downtown steakhouses.

“I think being part of a good team always increases attention in a good way,” Hoerner said. “I think last year we took a nice step in the right direction. But yeah, I definitely feel our fans’ support here. Any player would be lying if they say they don’t care about what the fans think or things like that.”

And of course, he cares about what his teammates think too. When told what Crow-Armstrong said about him, Hoerner called it a “sweet comment.”

“I think there’s a lot of opinions in our game,” he said, “but the people that you’re actually in the locker room with and around day-to-day, those are the minds that you really care about. So it means a lot.”