Chicago Cubs President With ‘Most at Stake’ During MLB Trade Deadline

The Chicago Cubs entered the season as a legitimate threat to win the National League Central. In the first few weeks of the year, they looked like a team that could accomplish just that.

Fast forward to July, the Cubs are one of the worst teams in baseball and sit 11.0 games out of first place in the dreadful Central.

To say that this campaign has been a disappointment would be an understatement. It's fair to question what went wrong, and there are a few answers to that question.

For one, Chicago dealt with some tough injuries for parts of the season. However, so has every team in baseball. The good teams just often find a way to get by when things start getting tough.

It's also fair to judge what Jed Hoyer and the rest of the front office did during the offseason. It was clear that this team lacked talent, and while they went out to try to change that, there was so much more that could've been done.

From an offensive standpoint, this lineup was never ready to compete for a World Series. Sure, they could've won the division, maybe even a playoff series due to their pitching if their bats got hot at the right time, but the offense, 1-9, was never good enough.

Hoyer should take as much of the blame as anyone for not putting together a team that fans deserved to watch.

Despite this season's failure, he can save himself a bit in the next few weeks. The Cubs should sell, especially given the lack of talent on the market.

If they move some of their top guys, they could add high-level prospects to a system that's already regarded as one of the best in baseball. This either allows the front office to make trades in the offseason for MLB-ready talent or embrace a youth movement.

Either decision would be better than the current product.

Hoyer has to hit this trade deadline out of the park.

Jeff Passan of ESPN wrote on Monday that Hoyer is one of the front office executives with the "most at stake," a fair assessment given the situation.

"The denizens of Wrigley Field are restless. Early this season, the Cubs were the betting favorite to win the NL Central, and now they're in last place, done in by a mediocre offense and a bullpen that can't help but issue too many walks. Situations such as this should be easy: Get rid of the guys who don't factor into post-2024 plans. Problem is, no one wantsKyle Hendricks, Hector Neris or David Bote.

"And everyone else is either signed long-term or pre-free agency. The Cubs are in no-man's land, and in a game where the best routes are winning or losing, it's a perilous place to be."

Passan isn't wrong, but a good front office would figure it out. There's clear talent on the roster, so they should be able to figure out ways to improve the organization as a whole.

If not, this horrible campaign will go down as one of the worst in recent memory.