The account for the apparel company Obvious Shirts posted a photoshopped picture to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Dec. 27 that summed up many Cubs fans’ feelings about the offseason.
“Just passed this on the highway coming back to Chicago,” the post said. “100% Real. Absolutely incredible.”
The picture below — which was part of a recurring bit, and not real — was of a digital highway sign that read: “USE YOUR TURN SIGNAL WHEN MAKING MOVES. UNLESS YOU’RE JED HOYER. JUST START MAKING MOVES.”
At that point, the Cubs had yet to acquire any player on a major-league contract. They were the last team to do so, but this week they signed left-hander Shōta Imanaga to a four-year deal and traded for corner infielder Michael Busch and reliever Yency Almonte. What had been a dragging offseason picked up to a sprint.
“My job is to make moves that I feel strongly about, that I think are good investments in the Cubs’ organization,” Hoyer, the team’s president of baseball operations, said at the Cubs Convention on Friday. “And I can’t make those up. I can’t force those. Sometimes they happen in a flurry, and sometimes it’s really slow, and I have to do things at my own pace. Not doing a deal keeps me up a lot more than doing a bad deal.”
He cracked a smile.
“People were sending me the highway-sign stuff, and so, yeah, I know what people are saying,” he said.
Just passed this on the highway coming back to Chicago. 100% Real. Absolutely incredible. #LetsGoJed pic.twitter.com/lcFRjD2iee
— OBVIOUS SHIRTS® (@obvious_shirts) December 27, 2023
Across MLB, this offseason has been slower than years past. Shortstop Dansby Swanson, who signed with the Cubs last December, was quick to point that out. He has wanted to be kept in the loop.
“[Hoyer] probably gets sick of me calling him,” Swanson said. “No, he’s been great.”
When he chose the Cubs, Swanson bought into Hoyer’s approach to building “sustained success.” Nothing has changed, even through the hard-to-ignore slow start to winter.
“The Falcons weren’t any good,” the Atlanta-area native joked. “So it was really hard for me to focus my attention elsewhere. So that made it even harder, sitting there kind of like, ‘Hey, when’s something going to happen?’ But at the end of the day, they have a plan.”
Busch trade
Hoyer said it was hard to give up two young prospects of the caliber of pitcher Jackson Ferris and outfielder Zyhir Hope. They went to the Dodgers for Busch and Almonte.
“I know Ferris and Hope are a ways away [from the big leagues], but they’re both really talented. Our scouts did a great job identifying those guys, and our development staff did a good job with them, as well,” Hoyer said. “But we were getting six years of service of a guy like Michael Busch. It wasn’t a deadline transaction where you’re getting a rental or a year and a half of control. And that made that transaction easier for us.”
Cubs Hall of Fame
The team announced Friday during the Cubs Convention’s opening ceremony that former pitcher Kerry Wood and third baseman Aramis Ramirez would be inducted into the Cubs Hall of Fame this year.
