The Cubs offseason has gotten off to a bad start.

Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer Media Availability / Michael Reaves/GettyImages

The 2024 season did not go as planned for the Chicago Cubs, who, despite making several key offseason moves, finished with the same record as they did in 2023, going 83-79. They still have not made the postseason in a full 162-game season (excluding 2020) since 2018.

The fact that the Cubs, even with lofty expectations, missed the postseason yet again meant that Jed Hoyer was going to face immense pressure to make it in 2025. His job could very easily be on the line. That simple fact gave Cubs fans hope that Hoyer would show some desperation when it came to trying to build the best team possible for 2025. So far, just days into free agency, it’s not looking like that’s going to be the case.

According to Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic (subscription required) the Cubs are not going to be in on the top free agents available – Juan Soto and Corbin Burnes – and instead are looking to make an impactful move in the trade market.

“The Cubs do not intend to deviate from this course, multiple sources told The Athletic, ruling out a pursuit of Juan Soto or Corbin Burnes even before all the baseball executives and agents checked out of the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa. Rather than pursuing talent at the top of the free agent market, the Cubs appear positioned to make noise in the trade market.”

Jed Hoyer crushes Cubs fans dreams in record time

Well, there you have it. Arguably the two best players in this class aren’t even a thought in the mind of Jed Hoyer. The Cubs have declared themselves out when it comes to pursuing Soto or Burnes before the GM Meetings even came to a close. This isn’t a surprise, but is that a slap in the face or what?

The Cubs are in a big market and have a nice core in place that could do some damage now if pieces are added to the mix. Despite the disappointing season, the Cubs ranked sixth in home attendance according to ESPN. They even ranked fourth in road attendance, proving that even when failing to meet expectations, they’re a draw. Cubs ownership is swimming in money. Yet, the Cubs aren’t even thinking about pursuing a generational 26-year-old or one of the best pitchers in the game (who happened to play for Craig Counsell with the Milwaukee Brewers.)

Can the Cubs still land impactful players? Absolutely. As Sharma and Mooney note, they have eight prospects on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospect list, giving them a ton of ammo when it comes to pulling off trades. Still, Cubs fans can’t not feel some type of way about the organization refusing to pursue the big-name options out there.

Sure, the Cubs have a bit of a logjam in the outfield, but if Juan Soto is available, you make it work. 26-year-olds on a Hall of Fame trajectory don’t become available in free agency all that often, and who knows, maybe Soto would’ve wanted to join the Cubs had they shown interest. Can you imagine what this Cubs rotation would look like with Burnes, Justin Steele, and Shota Imanaga leading the way? That’s a three-headed monster that few teams, if any, can realistically compete with. The Cubs are turning down that dream, too.

The Cubs will likely get better this offseason, but there’s a lot of ground to make up. The NL Central-winning Milwaukee Brewers won 93 games and finished 10.0 games ahead of the Cubs. The World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers won 97 games and are likely going to show interest in the players that the Cubs declared themselves out on as soon as they could.

Adding a player like Soto or Burnes – or at least pretending as if you have an interest in adding a big-time player – would’ve gone a long way. Instead, the Cubs are continuing to forget that they play in one of the biggest markets in the sport, and are letting down their fans in the process.