Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer believes his team was capable of achieving more this season after they were swept by the San Diego Padres in the first round of the National League wild-card series.
"There were long stretches where it looked like we could be a dominant team," Hoyer told reporters during his end-of-the-year press conference Friday, according to Cubs Daily. " ... Traded prospects away to supplement this group at the deadline, and we did that because we believed in it."
"We believed in this group. We had the best player in baseball, we had an exceptional position-playing group. We believed in this group, and we fell short. We let that opportunity slip away, and I think that's the part that will gnaw at us for a long time."
The Cubs were outscored 12-1 by the Padres in the NL wild-card series after posting a plus-147 run differential during the regular season.
In addition to a high-scoring offense, Chicago fielded a group of position players that was responsible for the most defensive runs saved in baseball, led by NL MVP front-runner Pete Crow-Armstrong, according to FanGraphs.
Hoyer plans to address the Cubs' pitching, most notably the bullpen, after it fell short of expectations this campaign.
"I did a poor job with the bullpen this year. Full stop," Hoyer said, according to Cubs Zone. "The guys we acquired this winter didn't produce nearly as well as they did a year ago. ... We didn't get it right, and that's something we've spent a lot of time talking about already, and we'll continue to talk about.
"I take responsibility for that, and it's something we'll look to improve on this offseason because it didn't work out as well as it did in '25."
The Cubs made the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. However, they haven't been able to advance past the division series.
