NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Cubs’ braintrust of President Jed Hoyer, GM Carter Hawkins, and new Manager Craig Counsell are scheduled to meet with the media out in Arizona today at 11am CT. Spring Training officially begins today, and the three men in charge of seeing that 2024 is a success should have plenty to discuss.
My plan is to be watching live and updating below with important bits, quickly paraphrased (but faithful!) comments from them, and then also any stray thoughts that pop into my head. The press conference is being broadcast live on Marquee, is also being streamed here on Twitter, and I would tentatively expect 670 The Score to carry it, too, though I haven’t seen an announcement.
* * *
Craig Counsell says the main thing in Spring Training for him and for the guys is just to interact. To get to know each other. To establish those relationships.
Jed Hoyer says the Cubs have a deep roster, and a roster with guys who have a chance to get better. That’s true, but probably not what most folks want to focus on at the moment (right or wrong).
What inning is it in the offseason? The closer is certainly warming up, says Jed. Still in contact with free agents, may add more, but at this point we’re focusing on the guys who are here.
Jed knows the team is pretty right-handed, and was happy to bring in Michael Busch. But it’s still an ongoing conversation about how to handle right-handed pitching.
Craig Counsell says he told Justin Steele the Brewers couldn’t figure out why they couldn’t score off of him. (It’s his weird, magic fastball!)
Carter Hawkins is asked about how you balance negotiations with Bellinger with everything else, and not tipping your hand. Carter doesn’t quite take the bait (good try, Bruce Levine). And instead just says there is always a lot going on this time of year, and there are a lot of focuses. Bruce pushes back and asks how you avoid misleading the fans, but Carter still avoids – we just try to tell the truth and do our job behind the scenes.
More pushing on the Bellinger question – good job, media! – Jed jumps in and emphasizes all the pros about Cody Bellinger, and just how much they have loved what he did last year. But when pushed, he says the Cubs are talking to tons of free agents right now and will continue to do that. They were prepared for these questions.
Jed is more excited for this spring than usual because of all the young talent in camp. That’s the direction the game is going, and he is happy to have so much young talent here. Craig talks about how important camp is for the young players, to get to work with other big leaguers, to work with the coaches, and help them learn how to take the next step.
If this is it, have you had a good offseason? Jed: we’ve made some good additions, we also want to see the young players step forward, and the hope is that we look back a year from now and even more guys have established themselves. I’m excited where things are right now, he says.
There is no speech that changes the world, Craig Counsell says of the idea that you can really inspire with big speeches. Our job is to take care of the first ten days, not get too far ahead of yourself. Fundamentals, health, don’t look too far ahead.
I like how honest Craig is about things he’s working on right now: for example, learning names. Really trying to learn lots of names in the organization. Notebook to keep track. There’s just a lot of that. New relationships.
In spring, the game results don’t matter. But we can keep on teaching, and that’s what matters. He likes lots of one-on-one with coaches, and/or small groups.
The sprint to get back to over .500 probably took a toll midseason, and there was too much playing catch-up, Jed says. The players should be proud of what they accomplished last year. But there’s probably a bitter taste because of the way it ended, and maybe that fueled guys this offseason.
Counsell: If you’re going to be a playoff type team, then you’re going to be playing critical games every September. So you prepare for that.
Carter says everyone’s been struck by just how outgoing Shota Imanaga is. Life of the clubhouse early on. Also good for Shota and Seiya Suzuki to have that relationship. But the Cubs will have to help throttle Shota down a little bit. Guys come in and want to impress, but the Cubs want him to be good for the full season.
A big part of the Cubs’ interest in Hector Neris was how he does it year after year, and how he’s a true leader in the bullpen. That was the word they got back from everyone they talked to, per Jed.
PCA worked unbelievably hard this offseason, Jed says. He was at the complex almost every day. He looks great. And he’s a great teammate. He wants the Cubs to win games, and he knows he’s good, but he also just wants anyone else around who helps the team win (the question was about Cody and Tauchman).
And that’s it. Not a massively illuminating presser, but not unlike Spring Training games, you are mostly just hoping for stasis in these situations. No news of surprise injuries. No negative updates. Just kinda all normal flow. Fine. (Now go sign Cody.)
