ST. LOUIS — The Chicago Cubs were motivated to move their most valuable expiring contract if they received an enticing return.
This approach followed president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer’s philosophy in the lead-up to last year’s trade deadline that saw one-third of the Cubs’ opening-day roster moved. But despite receiving interest from teams, impending free-agent catcher Willson Contreras remains a Cub.
“Like last year, we were willing to listen if someone gave us a piece that could really help our future, and we never crossed that threshold,” Hoyer said Tuesday. “Willson is a really valuable player. He’s been a great Cub for six years now. And we never got to that place where we felt comfortable making a deal to end his tenure here.”
