Jed Hoyer is in the spotlight after years of working in Theo Epstein’s shadow.
After revealing Thursday that the Chicago Cubs would shift from potential buyers to probable sellers in the final weeks before the trade deadline, Jed Hoyer was asked if he ever calls
Theo Epstein to use him as a sounding board.
“No, we talk anyways,” Hoyer replied. “I don’t know if he’s a sounding board, but we chat a fair amount. I’ve got a really good staff. Thanks to Theo, I think we hired a lot of really good people over the years, and I rely on them a lot.
“I’m the person that makes the final decision now, and that’s on my shoulders. But I have a lot of people in the office that are really smart that take the decisions as personally as I do, which is what you need.”
Hoyer was Epstein’s top confidante on the North Side for the last nine years, the one Epstein always could rely on to tell him when he thought he was wrong. That’s what friends are for.
But Hoyer suddenly is in the spotlight with a team that went from contender to pretender in the blink of an eye, and all eyes are on the Cubs president as he attempts to steer the ship through choppy waters with the trade deadline approaching.
It’s the “Jed Show” now, and suggesting these next three weeks could change the course of Cubs history would not be an embellishment.
Hoyer easily could have hunkered down in his office and avoided the media, taking calls from fellow executives about the availability of his players and leaving everyone — including players — speculating about what course of action he would take.
But taking a page from Epstein’s playbook, Hoyer decided to be as open about his decision as possible without getting into specifics. Even manager David Ross didn’t know Hoyer was going to admit the 11-game losing streak had forced him to audible and look toward the future at the expense of trying to rebound in the second half of 2021.
“We talked after (the media session),” Ross said Saturday before the Cubs-Cardinals game at Wrigley Field. “He keeps me in the loop as much as he needs to. I like to stay out of that area, if I’m honest, and continue to focus on the day to day. That’s important because if I start having some type of bias in my managerial style or how I have to make up the lineup, I don’t want to get that way. …
“We talk enough, but he’s been doing this a lot longer than I have. I’ve got a lot of trust. I think he knows I don’t have a lot of the answers, but it’s a credit to him to come out here and address (the media), for sure.”
The July 30 trade deadline often takes on a life of its own, and players know what to expect when they are potential trade targets, especially when entering their walk years.
“You guys are going to ask questions every single day, rightfully so, because there are going to be rumors flying and stories written,” Anthony Rizzo said during a July 2 teleconference in Cincinnati. “But it’s on all of us in the clubhouse to just stay connected, stay together, take it day by day, every cliché in baseball, for these next 30 days.”
Rizzo, one of the Cubs’ so-called “Big 3 free agents-to-be after the season along with Kris Bryant and Javier Báez, gave Hoyer a scare in the third inning Saturday by jumping onto the brick wall down the first-base line and falling into the netting while attempting to catch a Nolan Arenado foul ball. Fortunately Rizzo wasn’t injured, so he’ll be back in the rumor mill.
In 2019, the media would’ve gone into the clubhouse to ask players such as Rizzo, Bryant and Báez what they thought of Hoyer’s blunt comments. But with the clubhouse off limits and players making themselves scarce the last three days, Ross was forced to be the primary spokesman for the possible break-up of the remaining core of the 2016 championship team.
That makes things easier for the players whose names might be popping up in rumors. They’ve grown comfortable in their media-free bubble and can avoid difficult topics like being on the trade market.
Hoyer knew this time was coming when he took the job, so don’t feel sorry for him. He waited nine years for a chance to take over the Cubs, and this is his opportunity to show he was the perfect choice to replace Epstein.
Hoyer doesn’t have all the answers, as he admitted Thursday when asked why some players thrive under pressure while others have wilted.
“I try my hardest not to write narratives and not to create speculation on why certain things are happening because ultimately I can’t prove it,” he said. “I don’t know. I try to dig and find out information and think about it, but when you start painting certain pictures of why a guy is doing well or not, you’re fooling yourself.”
Life in the shadows of a sure-fire Hall of Fame executive made things relatively easy on Hoyer.
But now it’s Jed’s show, and the clock is ticking.