(670 The Score) With their playoff hopes fading, the Cubs are preparing to trade veteran players and retool their roster, but they aren't looking to begin a rebuild of significance.
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer emphasized that the organization is in a far different place than in 2012, when Hoyer was part of the initial rebuilding process that formed a perennial contender beginning in 2015.
"With the players we have and stuff like that, I don't see any reason why this needs to be a long process like (in 2012)," Hoyer said. "That was very different. We didn't have any building blocks on the team at that point that we knew about. It was a much longer process. Now, not only with what we have already internally but also the kind of trends in the game, that's not something we're about to embark on.
"I want to make sure that we can build that next great Cubs team."
When Hoyer and then-president of baseball operations Theo Epstein joined the Cubs in the fall of 2011, they inherited an organization that lacked coveted trade chips that would accelerate a rebuilding timetable. Outfielder Alfonso Soriano and right-hander Jeff Samardzija were among the team's top players prior to their arrival.
One of the Cubs' most important trades early on in the Epstein-Hoyer era was relatively low-profile at the time, as Chicago sent right-hander Scott Feldman to Baltimore in exchange for future staff ace Jake Arrieta and steady reliever Pedro Strop.
In their current situation, the Cubs have several of the most coveted trade chips on the market ahead of the deadline on July 30, notably a pair of All-Stars in closer Craig Kimbrel and third baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant. Other trade candidates include shortstop Javier Baez, first baseman Anthony Rizzo and reliever Andrew Chafin.
Though the Cubs could benefit by trading immensely popular core pieces like Bryant, Baez and Rizzo, Hoyer also understands the difficulty that would bring for players who were part of the World Series championship in 2016.
But with each of those core players on expiring contracts, Hoyer knows he must put the organization first.
"We need to make sure that we're not afraid of roster turnover based on sentimentality," he said. "We need to think about what is the right thing for this organization long term."