President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer enters the final year of his deal with the Chicago Cubs, but has he done enough in his tenure to warrant an extension?
The Chicago Cubs have been one of the more active teams in all of baseball this off season and the credit can be given to President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer for putting things together so far. 2025 marks the final year of a five-year contract Hoyer signed with the club back in 2020. Ironically that was the last time the Cubs made the playoff, but in the final year of his deal Hoyer has made moves to improve this roster to where that small drought could be over.
Bringing in Jed Hoyer
Since his tenure as the new President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer, who he took over from legendary baseball executive Theo Epstein who chose to take a step back and who was critical in bring a World Series back to Chicago. Owner and chairman of the Chicago Cubs Tom Ricketts spoke of the hiring of Jed Hoyer saying of bringing him on:
“My family and I believe he is going to be an incredible baseball operations president,” team chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement, “and Cubs fans have one of the best in the business leading the team to continue our commitment to sustained success.”
Signing Craig Counsel as Manager
One of Jed Hoyer’s biggest moves so far was signing current manager Craig Counsel to be the skipper of the Cubs. Hoyer hired Craig Counsel to be the manager back in the winter of 2023 stealing him away from his former club the Milwaukee Brewers. So far in just one season as the Cubs manager Counsel has an 83-79 record and only having three ejections to his name for 2024. Counsel is a solid manager who is a proven winner and who is now finally starting to get legit star caliber players on the roster to hopefully make the post season.
Signing both Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki
Hoyer was one of the major reasons on why the Cubs were able to bring in two of the best Japanese players the NPB had to offer in Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga. Oh, and might I add Hoyer could be the x-factor into luring the next Japanese superstar Roki Sasaki to play for the Cubs in 2025. In Shota’s rookie season he pitched to a record of 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA, with 1.021 WHIP, 174 strikeouts, in 173.1 innings pitched landing him with a top five finish for both the Cy Young award and the Rookie of the Year award.
Seiya Suzuki has also been a remarkable addition to the Cubs lineup. In his three years with the club Suzuki has 396 career hits, 80 doubles, 14 triples, 55 HRs, 193 RBI, with a career slash line of .278/.354/.470 for an OPS and OPS+ of .824 and 128. A solid defender when asked to play out in rightfield, but more lauded for his bat both Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga have been “out of the park” signings to put it in a baseball cliche.
Kyle Tucker
Finally, with no surprise here Hoyer’s biggest acquisition whether be trade or signing was acquiring 3x All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros. In 78 games last season for the Houston Astros Kyle Tucker had 80 hits, 13 doubles, 23 HRs, 49 RBI, 11 stolen bases, with a slash line of .289/.408/.585 for an OPS and OPS+ of .993 181. A solid power hitter who can also hit for average according to FanGraphs Kyle Tucker figures to slide nicely into the two hole just behind Ian Happ and just in front of Seiya Suzuki who last year hit .283 with 21 HRs for the Cubs last season will provide excellent protection for Tucker.
Adding Kyle Tucker means both him and Seiya Suzuki will be splitting time in rightfield next season as well as both seeing time at the designated hitter spot with Tucker getting the bulk of the time in rightfield. Adding a star player such as Kyle Tucker is a move that a baseball executive makes when they know they’re in a win now window.
The Final Verdict
I think overall Jed Hoyer has done a fantastic job and has earned himself a contract extension given the major moves he has made like adding Kyle Tucker, as well as adding pieces along the margins such as trading for Vidal Bruján from the Miami Marlins adding depth to the team.
Breaking: The Chicago Cubs Sign Veteran Left-handed Reliever
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