Jed Hoyer Says Cubs Not Done Looking to Add Starting Pitchers

Jed Hoyer doesn’t give much away when speaking publicly, but that doesn’t mean he’s being disingenuous. He’s nearly as transparent as his predecessor, it’s just that he keeps a lower profile and has a knack for pulling off moves no one saw coming. When he does address matters point-blank, you can be sure he means what he says. Like when it comes to how the Cubs plan to continue adding arms.

There’s a little blink-and-you’ll-miss-it quip here that I might be reading too much into, so see if you can identify it before I cover it at the end.

“You can’t have enough these days.”

Matthew Boyd could be just the tip of the iceberg for the #Cubs winter.@Cubs | #WinterMeetings
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— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) December 9, 2024

“Certainly the bullpen is something we’ll be focused on the rest of the offseason,” Hoyer told MLB Network Radio from the Winter Meetings Monday morning. “I don’t think we’re done looking at starting pitching. We have real depth of starting pitching, which I’m excited about, whether it’s Ben Brown or whether (Hayden) Wesneski, (Javier) Assad, Cade Horton, hopefully, in the minor leagues. We have Jordan Wicks.

“We have these guys, but as we watched in the playoffs, you can’t have enough these days, you know…It used to be, ‘Can we get 200 innings out of these four guys?” and figure it out, and now it’s just not happening. So you’re gonna have to piece the whole thing together, and the more arms you have that are quality arms that can be part of that battle, the better. Because you just can’t rely on these big blocks of innings anymore.”

While this is pretty much the same thing Hoyer has been saying for the last several years in terms of needing depth on the staff, the context of the coming season is important. For instance, a lot of folks seem to think their recent rumored pursuits of Garrett Crochet, Luis Castillo, and even Walker Buehler or Jack Flaherty are dubious since the rotation is full with the signing of Matthew Boyd. Yes, the same guy who’s tallied 202.2 innings over the last four seasons.

If anything, I can see the Boyd signing as a strong indication that the Cubs are again weighing the idea of moving to a six-man rotation. Justin Steele has never had a fully healthy campaign, Shōta Imanaga is still most familiar with more rest, and three of the depth pieces Hoyer named ended the 2024 season on the IL. At the risk of stating the obvious, it would be malpractice by the front office to not pursue at least one more starter.

The crown jewel is Japanese phenom Rōki Sasaki, who has officially been posted and can sign between now and January 23. Because it’s a minor league deal, he’ll be bound by league-minimum salary restrictions, making him a bargain hunter’s wet dream. Even better for those seeking value, bonuses paid from a team’s international free agency pool allocation don’t count toward competitive balance tax calculations.

I’ll reiterate here that signing bonuses for MLB contracts do count toward the CBT number.

The Cubs probably won’t wait on Sasaki to announce a decision some already feel is a foregone conclusion, and it sounds like they’re heavily prioritizing acquisitions via trade over free agency. That also means being able to target players with presumably higher impact and longer club control like Castillo and Crochet. If Hoyer is going to have to part with top prospects, it won’t be for a No. 4 starter with limited upside.

That brings me back to the little glitch in the matrix that I might just be making up. Did you catch that little “hopefully” immediately following Hoyer’s mention of top pitching prospect Cade Horton? I’ve previously expressed concern over the subscapularis strain that ended his season in late May and that worry will persist until Horton is back on a mound throwing at full strength. That one word may have been utterly innocuous, but it caught in my brain like a subliminal barb and now I’m obligated to share my paranoia with the rest of you.

My final thought is that, while the Cubs would still be eyeing starters even if Horton was fully healthy, I think getting really splashy for Crochet might say something about their confidence in the prospect’s immediate outlook. Again, it’s entirely possible Horton is going to be better than ever come spring training and I’m just worrying over nothing.