Jed Hoyer on trade for Kyle Tucker: "One of the best players in baseball, period" |
Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer talked to the media Tuesday during a Zoom call, discussing several subjects, including the blockbuster trade that brought standout outfielder Kyle Tucker to Chicago.
“We talked all summer, you guys asked me a lot of questions about the roster and how it’s constructed,” Hoyer said. “We have a lot of really good players on the team, we’re very balanced, but it did feel like we lacked that consolidation of WAR, I would say, on our roster in one player. And obviously, Tucker is just one of the best players in baseball, period. Obviously, to acquire a player like that, it comes at a real price, but it’s a price we were willing to pay given the fact that was something we felt all summer we lacked and something we really wanted to bring to this team.” Hoyer only wanted to do a trade to get a great player cause his roster is full of good players on the Cubs. “We talked all summer, you guys asked me a lot of questions about the roster and how it’s constructed,” Hoyer said Tuesday on a Zoom call. “We have a lot of really good players on the team, we’re very balanced, but it did feel like we lacked that consolidation of WAR, I would say, on our roster in one player. And obviously, Tucker is just one of the best players in baseball, period. Obviously, to acquire a player like that, it comes at a real price, but it’s a price we were willing to pay given the fact that was something we felt all summer we lacked and something we really wanted to bring to this team.” “There’s a finite number of ways that we can really improve as a team, especially on the position player side,” Hoyer said. “Because in order to get a player that’s better than our internal replacement level, you have to go fairly high. We have a lot of good players. We’re very balanced. So there’s just not that many players out there that were available that we felt like, ‘OK, this player clearly makes us a better team, he provides something we don’t have.’ Obviously, Tucker provides that. So that was a big part of the impetus of doing the trade.” Hoyer is excited about Tucker being in Chicago for this upcoming season and possibly even more. "I don't know what the future holds, but obviously, Chicago sells itself really well," Hoyer said. "Like I said, I'm excited to bring him in for this year, and we'll see where it goes beyond that. But clearly, this was the kind of player that we lacked." Watch Hoyer's full press conference below:
