Jed Hoyer shows no interest in addressing one of the Cubs’ biggest needs

Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has been active at the start of this offseason, a nice change from his frustrating patience from last winter. Not only did the Cubs finish their rotation by signing Matthew Boyd, but they also made a key bullpen addition by trading for Eli Morgan.

Ultimately, you can never have enough pitching, and Hoyer has already made two meaningful additions. Morgan, in particular, is helping to meet a great need.

However, the Cubs didn’t enter this offseason with just one or two problems. Hoyer has done little to address Chicago’s biggest need, the catcher position, and with guys like Danny Jansen and Gary Sanchez now officially off the market, there isn’t much else for Hoyer to even look at.

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The Cubs catchers were among the worst in all of baseball last season. Not only did they rank 26th in the majors with 69 wRC+, but they also ranked 28th with -0.1 fWAR. The only team among them in this category was the Chicago White Sox with 121 losses.

While Miguel Amaya finished strong, he also had an OPS of .644 as the team’s primary catcher. Christian Bethancourt played pretty well in his brief stint with the Cubs, but his track record suggests that’s not sustainable, plus he’s a free agent.

With Chicago desperately needing help at catching, the team traded for Matt Thaiss at the start of the offseason. While Thaiss was once a first-round pick, he only has a .655 OPS in parts of six MLB seasons. Moving away from the Los Angeles Angels might help a little, but nothing about what Thaiss — a player who is out of minor league options — has done suggests he will be useful as a backup himself.

Amaya is only 25, but he hasn’t shown much at the MLB level. Thaiss has shown even less. Both players are not eligible for the minor leagues. Moises Ballesteros is an intriguing prospect in the upper minors, but can he really be counted on to be the solution for a team that wants to win? Considering Carson Kelly is probably the top free agent, the Cubs may have to rely on Ballesteros more than they probably should.

There wasn’t much to begin with, and it’s not like Jansen and Sanchez are guaranteed to be much better than Amaya, but at least they’re veterans with a decent track record. Essentially, running back a backup group that was among the worst in the league last season is a decision – and not a particularly good one – for a team that is seriously trying to compete.