Nico Hoerner on whether this Cubs season is a bust, trade speculation and more

CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs earned a 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds in 1 hour, 48 minutes on Friday afternoon, making it their fastest nine-inning game in 23 years. The wind howled again at Wrigley Field, working against the hitters. Both starting pitchers, Jameson Taillon and Nick Martinez, knew how to follow a game plan. Besides, it’s almost time for vacation.

However, Nico Hoerner doesn’t just do it. He sprinted from third base and dove headfirst to score the game’s only run on a sacrifice fly. He constantly soils his uniform and plays exceptionally clean defense. Before the cubs scatter for the winter, The Athletics caught up with the Stanford graduate who sees the entire field.

Is the season a failure?

Hoerner was asked that question a lot last year and settled on “yes” after missing the playoffs by one game. The Cubs had pulled off a sellout at last season’s trade deadline, projecting 12 games above .500 in early September and pushing their postseason odds above 90 percent. The eventual crash gnawed at team president Jed Hoyer last October, leading to the decision to replace David Ross with Craig Counsell as the club’s manager. Hoerner’s 2024 answer is a little more nuanced.

Hoerner: It’s a fraught one in many ways. We are definitely not where we want to be. That’s pretty black and white. I don’t think I need to find the perfect wording for that. We didn’t make the play-offs. We didn’t even give ourselves a chance to win the World Series, which is the goal.

I am proud of many things that have been done internally this year. I am proud of the direction of this team. It’s the respect I have for my teammates and the way people have improved as the year has gone by. The young boys who have gone one step further. Recreating an entire bullpen. The consistency of our starters. The group of position players went through very long periods where they did not achieve results or produce almost collectively. It feels like almost everyone has responded by just continuing to search for the good version of themselves and steadily improving.

It’s clear that we’re not meeting the ultimate standard of what we want to do. We can process this in different ways. But I do think the stakes to win are extremely high. We are going to improve.

Trade rumors

The Cubs won’t want to move on from Hoerner, a homegrown Gold Gold second baseman who works well with shortstop Dansby Swanson and center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, giving the team a strong defense in the middle. Hoerner’s WAR ratings over the past three years — 4.2, 5.1, 3.5, per Baseball Reference — confirm his solid value. He’s only 27 and is already under contract until 2026. It certainly wouldn’t be addition by subtraction. It’s more that the Cubs appear limited in ways to improve given some of their roster commitments, no-trade clauses and salary parameters. These factors will fuel speculation.

Hoerner: I signed an extension here for a reason. I want to be clear here. Winning here would be about as satisfying as it gets. When you’re part of the organization you’ve been drafted by – and have to endure challenges like we’ve discussed – you want to see the full arc of that and be a part of it. That’s about the coolest thing you can do in your career. To do it with people you’ve worked with for a long time – from staff and coaches to the clubhouse guys and teammates who created you – that’s what’s special about the playoff celebrations. When I see other teams doing that, I think about what it would be like to share it with the people here.

The Wrigleyville Experience

Nico Hoerner has spent his entire six-year career in Chicago. (Griffin Quinn/Getty Images)

Making his Major League debut at the end of the Joe Maddon era and learning from members of the 2016 World Series team shaped Hoerner’s expectations and appreciation of the moment.

Hoerner: I don’t really think there’s a better place to be a Major League Baseball player. It’s incredible. Even at the last homestand I was quite curious what it would be like here, energy-wise, as we had played our way out of contention a bit. There were plenty of reasons for fans to be disappointed or frustrated or whatever they may be feeling at the end of the season. It was quite a difficult season. But the continued support and energy is really great. It makes it very easy to maintain that joy for baseball.

The professor

Kyle Hendricks’ last game in a Cubs uniform could be Saturday afternoon at the Friendly Confines, where he once won the National League pennant with a dominant performance and always represented the team with class.

Hoerner: The consistency and the professionalism and all that is very clear. Even if he doesn’t show (his emotions), behind it all there is a very strong passion for the sport and competition. You don’t do all that consistently just to be consistent. Somewhere in there is a very, very strong fire and desire to be truly great, which has allowed him to maximize and also dominate at this level. You’re talking about an ERA title and just a world-class pitcher.

He may always look the same, but I imagine it will take as much perseverance, ups and downs and passion for Kyle as the most fiery player on the field. He puts it in a different way. I hope it doesn’t get overlooked: the competitor he is and the love for the sport he has. He’s one of the best conversations in the locker room, whether it’s about hitting or other players on other teams or just things that stand out to him.

He’s just always absorbing things. It’s easy for a player who’s been around for over a decade to be a little numb to that – and not really absorb or observe the games – but he’s always noticing new things. It’s also part of the reason he’s been effective for so long. He has continuously made adjustments and improvements.

Time flies

The Cubs are very good at video board tributes for former players. It doesn’t seem that long ago that Hoerner was called off the bench in a September call-up to help cover Javier Báez in 2019.

Hoerner: It’s a bit of a reflective time of year as we approach the end. Every year is so different, but there is definitely a great sense of gratitude that we can be at this level. It’s something special to do year after year, whether you’re happy with your season or not. There is so much involved in playing at this level that it goes by very quickly. You want to soak it all up.

I don’t want these years to fly by quickly. You want to be in the middle of it, because these are really special times. Take every opportunity you can. That’s why things that don’t go well hurt so much. But that’s probably a good sign for the same reason. The great things feel so special. I want to feel those things strongly and make the most of my career and especially my time in Chicago, because I know the grass isn’t greener.

(Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)