Counsell, players applaud Cubs’ decision to extend Hoyer
MILWAUKEE — Cubs ownership decided to remove the next two months and a possible playoff run from the equation. The team announced a multiyear contract extension Monday for president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer.
The move was expected to happen eventually. To this point, Hoyer has the Cubs positioned as one of the best teams in MLB with his acquisitions leading the way, particularly Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch, Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd.
Even the smaller moves are paying off. Most of the successful relief corps are new to the Cubs, catcher Carson Kelly was a pleasant surprise and 2023 first-round pick Matt Shaw has carried the offense since the all-star break.
Theo Epstein stepped aside so Hoyer could make the tough decisions on whether to break up what remained of the World Series team, which he did with a flurry of trades before the deadline in 2021.
Several Cubs players endorsed the move before Monday's series opener against the Brewers.
“I have a lot of faith and trust in him,” said Ian Happ, the longest-tenured Cub on the current roster. “So I felt like there was no one better to run the organization.
“To handle (the '21 sell-off) the way he did and then be able to build up what we have now, it's been awesome to watch, awesome to work with.”
Players received a text from the team in the afternoon, informing them of the news. Nico Hoerner was asked how close the players are to their boss.
“He has a really good feel,” Hoerner said. “He keeps it professional, but also keeps a human element to it. I think that's a challenging part of his job that he's always done a good job of.”
Perhaps Hoyer's boldest move — maybe No. 2 behind the Tucker trade — was hiring Craig Counsell as manager in 2023 and replacing David Ross, who had just led a winning season.
“He was just very optimistic about the future and where the Cubs were headed,” Counsell said. “I think he sold that really well, and I believed it. I agreed with him completely.
New Hampshire native Hoyer, 51, has worked in MLB since 2002, when he joined the Red Sox as an assistant to the general manager. He was GM in San Diego from 2010-11, before joining forces with Epstein in Chicago.
“He's done it for a long time,” Counsell said. “He's not surprised by anything and he's usually ahead of everything. That's a really comforting feeling for an organization to be in.”