Jed Hoyer deserves more credit than he’s getting from Cubs fans

With the Chicago Cubs’ disappointing regular season, with the team now 59-60 and in third place in the National League Central, the pressure has been directly placed on Jed Hoyer.

After all, Hoyer is responsible for assembling this Cubs roster. He’s the president of baseball operations who lured Craig Counsell away from the rival Milwaukee Brewers in hope of securing multiple World Series championships.

Instead, the first year of Hoyer and Counsell’s partnership has gone the opposite of how either anticipated and resulted in one of the most frustrating seasons in recent Cubs history.

Cubs fans need to give Jed Hoyer some deserved credit

But it’s not for lack of effort. Even after acquiring Isaac Paredes from the Tampa Bay Rays, Hoyer attempted to acquire long-term assets. One of them that he expressed interest in, sources say, was Los Angeles Angels star catcher Logan O’Hoppe.

The Angels, however, showed no willingness to move O’Hoppe. They view him as an integral part of their long-term foundation, and rightfully so. O’Hoppe, 24, has emerged as one of the best young catchers in baseball, hitting .260/.320/.435 with a .755 OPS, 16 home runs and 46 RBI in 101 games this season.

O’Hoppe would have solved the Cubs’ pressing catching issues. This season, they have designated Yan Gomes after the veteran struggled and signed Tomas Nido to temporarily replace him. Miguel Amaya, the team’s young catcher, has hit only .217/.278/.310 with a .588 OPS with four home runs in 83 games this season. 

The Cubs are expected to continue looking for a long-term backstop in the offseason. Perhaps they could check in on O’Hoppe, but the Angels will not trade O’Hoppe. Perhaps one thing to monitor, however, is that the Cubs called the Angels about “a bunch of guys” in addition to O’Hoppe.

This year has been disappointing for the Cubs. There’s no other way of framing it. But one thing that Hoyer should be applauded for is his willingness to be creative. It got him Paredes. He tried for O’Hoppe, and it should give Cubs fans confidence that he can find a long-term solution behind the plate – even if he didn’t get his top target at the deadline.