‘Constraints’ Are Name of Game for Cubs Front Office

Candyman. Beetlejuice. Constraints. All various boogeymen that appear when you say their name three times. The former once terrorized Cabrini-Green on Chicago’s Near North Side, but the latter has reared its ugly head several times in Wrigleyville over the last few years as the front office makes do with resources that don’t quite match the Cubs’ supposed financial might. Despite those limitations — which don’t hold as much water when compared to the rest of the NL Central — Jed Hoyer might end up getting the hook if he doesn’t produce a playoff team at long last.

The longtime executive looked more than a little beleaguered when speaking with media members at the start of spring training and his rhetoric has remained somewhat cautious since. He’s been saying the quiet part out loud, embracing the moral victory of simply being able to entertain a legitimate pursuit of a top-tier free agent in Alex Bregman.

“Ultimately, I feel like we made a strong offer,” a deflated Hoyer explained. “But clearly it wasn’t enough and again, when you’re in free agency, most of the time a player goes to the highest bid. The Red Sox got a great player. They were aggressive and kudos to them, they got a great player. But I’m glad that we were able…given where we are with our budget right now, I’m glad that we were able to pursue it and, like I said, I’m thankful that we were able to.”

Hoyer’s latest public comments came at a Cactus League media event at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix during which he again came across as frustrated or even exhausted. That’s not a surprise given the heavy mental exercise of the offseason, particularly with the Cubs having just capped off their winter by signing Justin Turner to provide a little veteran bench depth. Still, it feels more and more like this is a guy who has stared his professional mortality in the eyes and has accepted his potential fate.

“We took it as a real challenge,” Hoyer told Patrick Mooney and other reporters. “We knew we had certain constraints. How do we work within those constraints and continue to get better at the same time? Only time will tell if we were successful. But I feel good about what we accomplished this offseason, given that we had some constraints.”

Has anyone sounded more like they needed an “At Least You Tried” cake to lift their spirits?

Don’t get me wrong, the Cubs have absolutely improved their outlook on paper as they head into the 2025 season. The bullpen appears to be much more solid, with more firmly established roles and greater depth should things have to be altered during the season. Kyle Tucker‘s addition gives them a great player who may be able to lift up several very good ones. Then you’ve got some room for young guys like Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matt Shaw to make an impact without being put under significant pressure to have to do so.

But when I hear Hoyer getting almost Freudian with the repetition of “constraints” to the point that it almost becomes pejorative, I have to wonder whether he’s lost faith in finding a path to sustained success after this season. Because let’s face it, that path can get overgrown very quickly if the funds are there to clear out the undergrowth from time to time. Big-market clubs can buy themselves more leeway and spend through mistakes, something the Cubs are either unwilling or unable to do on the same level as their peers.

We need look no further than the fact that paying out $7 million in deferred salaries to Jason Heyward and Jon Lester this year may have prevented at least one acquisition. If ownership is going to tighten the pursestrings over such a nominal figure for a pair of players who helped bring a World Series title to the North Side, it’s hard to see the budget increasing meaningfully in at least the near future. Or maybe I’m just reading way too much into this.

It’s possible Hoyer is simply weary from the effort of the last few months and, like the rest of us, just wants to watch actual baseball games again. Yeah, that’s probably it.

Ed. note: In fairness to Hoyer, he was smiling when talking about Shota Imanaga starting Game 1 in Japan. I just chose to screencap the video of his comments at a point where his expression better matched the tone here.