Cubs president reportedly lacks ‘wiggle room’ to bolster offense before deadline

The Chicago Cubs offense has severely underperformed this season, but Chicago would not make any significant additions to its roster before the deadline.

If the struggling Cubs hadn’t already solidified themselves as sellers, Chicago president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer did so ahead of the Cubs’ weekend series with the Milwaukee Brewers.

ESPN’s Jesse Rogers revealed comments made by Hoyer on Friday that essentially ruled out the Cubs as willing, or even capable, buyers.

“There’s not a lot of wiggle room in terms of how we can change things and improve things, positionally,” Hoyer said, according to Rogers. “When you look at where we played this year with a team that is stronger (on paper), it’s not as good. Is this frustrating for me? Absolutely. If it’s frustrating for me, I have to imagine it’s frustrating for the fans. »

Rogers interpreted Hoyer’s remarks as an indication that any additions to Chicago’s offense in 2024 will come solely from its farm system.

“As for the Cubs’ offense, Hoyer admitted he can’t change it too much given that his key players are all under long-term contracts,” Rogers said. “In other words, the trade deadline won’t solve the team’s scoring problems; it will have to come from within. »

Chicago is now 38-45 after losing the first game of its series against Milwaukee. The Cubs are in last place in the National League Central with 79 games remaining.

Any major changes to Chicago’s roster between now and July 30 will be subtractions, not additions, and momentum is building toward the Cody Bellinger trade.

Jed Hoyer has his hands full with Cubs fans heading toward a state of apathy.

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