Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts addresses Jed Hoyer's extension, trade deadline

The Cubs’ first deal of trade deadline week wasn’t for a player. It was a multi-year contract extension for president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, which the team announced Monday.

Friday morning, after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred officially announced that the 2027 All-Star Game was coming to Wrigley Field, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts addressed Hoyer's extension and its timing.

“We went into the season thinking about an extension,” Ricketts said. “The team was playing well enough that Jed had really proven that he’d put a good ballclub on the field. And I've always been comfortable with Jed. I think he makes good baseball decisions, and he's really built a good organization. The organization's gotten healthier over the years. The minor leagues, the draft has been more effective over the last few years. And, of course, we're playing well at the major-league level. So it really felt like it was time to extend Jed.”

Ricketts said that the trade deadline, and the potential leverage implications at play, weren’t the main motivators to finalize the agreement in the last week of July.

“But obviously, getting it done before the trade deadline made some sense,” Ricketts said.

Said Hoyer: “I'm thrilled it got done. I couldn’t imagine a better place to work. It wouldn't change my decision-making.”

Hoyer traded for right-hander Michael Soroka, who is expected to fill a swingman role, veteran relievers Andrew Kittredge and Taylor Rogers, and super utility player Willi Castro.

“I think we had a good trade deadline,” Ricketts said. “We have a really good team, we added to it, and I think it's going to be a great couple months. When you look at the guys that are coming in through through [Thursday’s] trades, I look at the guys that are coming off the injured list, I think we're going to really be in good shape for rest of season, into the postseason.”

Hoyer notably did not orchestrate a trade for a frontline starter, deeming the asking prices too high, and saying such a deal would have jeopardized the Cubs’ path to sustained success.

“It's really not a matter of, are you aggressive or not aggressive?” Ricketts said. “It's, what's available, and what's the cost? … If something, what you might call aggressive, would have fit, he would have done it. But nothing really fit for us.”