(670 The Score) Coming off back-to-back 83-win seasons and four straight years without a playoff berth, the Cubs understand the pressure on them to emerge as a playoff team in 2025.
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is wearing the brunt of those expectations. He’s in the final year of his contract and has been tasked with producing a playoff club.
Late in the 2024 season, Cubs manager Craig Counsell emphasized that the organization's goal should be to build 90-win teams. As the Cubs' new season is now underway, Hoyer on Thursday addressed that topic on the Spiegel & Holmes Show.
“I mean, there are projection systems that say yes. There are projection systems that say no,” Hoyer said when asked if he felt he has built a 90-win team. “Ultimately, the beauty of this game is we need to go out every day as an organization – from the front office to coaching staff to players – we need to try to exceed expectations, and we need to optimize our performance.
“This is the journey. As a group, we need to outperform. And that really goes for everybody in the league. I think if we outperform, we have a chance to be that 90-win team you’re talking about, to feel like we have a really deep, solid team. But every team in baseball is looking to outperform and get the best out of their guys. That’s where it starts today.”
The Cubs are off to an 0-2 start after losing a pair of games to the defending World Series champion Dodgers in Tokyo earlier in March. They open the stateside circuit Thursday night with the first of four games against the Diamondbacks in Arizona, followed by a three-game series against the Athletics in Sacramento.