CHICAGO — One day before the last game of another lost season by the Chicago Cubs , Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” blasted over the Wrigley Field sound system as a crowd of 38,180 gave pending free agent Kyle Hendricks a loud standing ovation. They were celebrating the last player remaining from the 2016 World Series team. Advertisement Little did they know, they were also saying goodbye to the Cubs’ recent way of doing business.
Even before the end of an 83-79 season, the Cubs started a major transformation of the front office. And emotion — sweet or otherwise — is no longer a significant part of a plan to reach their goal of building a sustainable winner. “As hard as they are, if we didn’t feel like these changes moved us closer to that goal, we wouldn’t do them,’’ Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told The Athletic .
“That’s the guiding principle, that’ll never change and these decisions are very much in line with that.” More than ever, the Cubs will rely on data, video and models for their evaluations of players. The Cubs are actively interviewing prospective candidates and looking for new talent in spaces such as R&D and player development, on top of the investments and hires already made in their efforts to find and develop international talent.
However, while some areas have seen growth, others are being scaled back as a result of the Cubs’ shifting emphasis. In the amateur scouting department, one high-level scout was laid .
