Hoyer admits to harsh reality that Cubs will sell at deadline

Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer speaks to the media during spring training media day at the Glendale Civic Center. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Jed Hoyer admits to harsh reality that Cubs will sell at trade deadline

By Erin Walsh | Last updated 7/9/21

The Chicago Cubs snapped an 11-game losing streak with an 8-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday. Then they lost again to the Phillies on Thursday.

With Chicago's season slipping away, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer acknowledged the harsh reality that the Cubs will likely have to sell at the trade deadline, which is a shift from their previous stance of wanting to be buyers this month.

"Listen, we've believed in these guys since 2015. They've had a ton of success, and I would never count these guys out," Hoyer said, according to 670 The Score. "But 11 days ago, we were fully on the buy side of this transaction, and everyone was calling about that. And obviously now, people are calling to see which players are available. So it's a very different scenario than we expected.

"You know, life comes at you fast. Eleven days ago, this is not where we were mentally. Obviously, 11 games certainly changes a lot of things."

The Cubs are two games below .500 and enter Friday 9.5 games behind the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers. Hoyer added that the Cubs are taking calls and want to focus on building for the future.

Jed Hoyer is open for business and taking phone calls ahead of trade deadline: “When your playoff odds get into single digits at this time of the year, you have to keep one eye on the future and what moves you can potentially make that can help build the next great Cubs team.”
— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) July 8, 2021

Moving into sell mode means that many of Chicago's core pieces from its 2016 World Series team could be on the move later this month. Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez, who are all pending free agents, could be the first to go.

Closer Craig Kimbrel, who's having a solid season out of the pen, and Joc Pederson could also be available for trade.

However, Baez said earlier this year that he doesn't want to play for another team, so the All-Star shortstop might be sticking around if the Cubs can work something out with him.

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