4:11PM: The Cubs announced the move, with both Hoerner and left-hander Brad Wieck optioned to Triple-A.
9:10AM: Last night, the Cubs optioned infielder Nico Hoerner, report Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers of ESPN (Twitter link). That sets the stage for non-roster invitee Eric Sogard to make the season-opening roster, Passan and Rogers add. Sogard’s contract will need to formally selected to the 40-man roster before Opening Day.
Passan and Rogers suggest the Cubs’ decision not to break camp with Hoerner is fueled by a desire to gain an extra year of team control over the 23-year-old. Hoerner has 1.021 days of MLB service time, so the Cubs would need to keep him in the minors for 36 days to avoid him reaching two full years of service in 2021. Hoerner is presently controllable through 2025, so the demotion could keep him in Chicago until after the 2026 season.
If optioning Hoerner is indeed motivated by service time concerns, it’s a bit of a bizarre decision. The Cubs are coming off a year in which they won the National League Central and are part of a four-team group with a plausible chance at claiming the division in 2021. Accepting a suboptimal second base situation for over a month of this season in order to hold onto Hoerner’s contractual rights for 2026 wouldn’t seem to be a worthwhile trade-off.
There is a case to be made the Cubs are better off, strictly from an on-field perspective, in turning to a Sogard-David Bote platoon at the keystone over Hoerner. While Hoerner flew to the majors after being selected in the first round of the 2018 draft, he hasn’t yet been productive there. Across 208 MLB plate appearances, the Stanford product has hit just .247/.309/.333. He didn’t hit a single home run over 126 plate appearances last year, slugging a punchless .259.
Of course, Sogard is coming off a dismal season of his own, having hit .209/.281/.278 with just one homer in 128 plate appearances with the Brewers. Sogard was quite good in 2019 but he’d never before approached the .457 slugging percentage or 13 homers he hit that year, so it didn’t seem he’d be able to sustain that level of production. Both Hoerner and Sogard have hit well in Spring Training.
Wow. The division isn’t exactly a lock for anybody, this is a surprising decision. Wonder how long it takes Cubs management to try to tell fans that this makes them more competitive this year.
while i dont agree with the move, one notes he was less then stellar last year. perhaps they want to make sure those ST numbers werent a fluke.
Hoerner is no finished product. Sogard had an awesome spring
Hoerner may get better with some minor league seasoning. Sogard is what he is, and that’s exactly what they got from Hoerner last year, at a minimum.
Nico has struggled offensively since being in the majors and didn’t play any games in AAA. I felt all along he should have been sent to AAA for more seasoning, get a better feel for more advanced pitching.
Hoerner had a nice spring, but his stats are padded from his ridiculously hot start and then he started to trail off as he faced better pitching.
Also, Hoyer is on the record saying he expects Bote to break out this season so the Hoerner decision seemed very likely regardless. Sogard hits lefty which gives him the edge coming off the bench but also, why waste Hoerner as a bench bat regardless?
Nico without a doubt will get called back up this season but I don’t think it will be as soon as people expect unless Bote and Sogard struggle. He will most likely be in a super utility role, backing up short, second and CF for Happ. He may find himself in a platoon role in CF if Happ and or Pederson continues his struggles against southpaws and the Cubs are in a playoff push.
its an odd numbered year. Sogard will do well.
One a true “nerd” would know that
An odd and illogical comment.
I mean, he’s not completly wrong. He’s an above average hitter in odd years since 2017, but well below average hitter in the even years.
You can tell who upset WereAllJustGuestsHere, probably for calling him out for his garbage takes, by when he goes on a passive aggressive tirade against them on here. The best part is is that if this isnt actually jimmertee’s burner, he doesnt call him out for “odd and illogical comments”.
Aaaah, Khabib McGregor is a burner account for someone else! I see the hypocrisy runs deep in you.
Sorry to disappoint you, and I’m sure I not the first or last to do so, I am not Jimmer.
Bret Saberhagen was like that. Brilliant every other year and “off his game” in between.
It’s quite evident that the two Chicago baseball teams have different approaches when tackling MLB service time concerns. At the minimum, the Cubs have been far more blatant in their manipulation than the White Sox.
The rules are the rules, Cubs just maximize the advantage. I honestly don’t know why any team wouldn’t. (Most gm’s don’t care what is said on discussion boards)
Yeah cause playing the service time game with Bryant worked so well, right? Guy declined every year since 2016. It’s a smart move by Cubs but sucks for Hoerner and fans quite frankly. Only cause the Cubs want to run nerd promos & sell some more merchandise. Smart fans would scream that keeping Kipnis would’ve been far smarter while still holding Hoerner service time down.
But most Cubs fans are not smart enough to figure out why that front office/ownership does certain things.
“yeah because Bryant worked out so well”… ummm, yeah, he did. Got sent down to start the season, came up after a month and won ROY then the following season he won MVP and a ring, soooooo yeah, it worked out for everyone (except maybe Boras) You should think before you type. Haha
And it’s totally his fault for getting hit in the head. Not only was it 97mph fastball but it was so loud I heard it from the upper deck in right field. And he didn’t even go down.
Ohhhh typical Cubs fans. Bryzzo what is the opposite of above you? BeLOW ME! Guy is classic Cub fan. First off, he was not down for a “month” Mr Bleed Cubbbie Blue. So you should “think” or research before you type! Bryant’s production has declined every year “since” 2016 which is what I said. But keep living in past & mom’s basement bro.
As for Wrek, I never said it was Bryant’s fault for getting hit in head. I would fault Theo/Jed for not realizing his production was falling off quite a bit that year and for years after.
Hoerner has only played 80 something minor league games with none in Triple A.. Sogard and Bote had solid springs. Calling it service time manipulation is a stretch even for Cub haters.
Total service time manipulation bull****… In 37 days Hoerner will back in the bigs.. This is the issue that’s going to cause a players strike in 2022..
Maybe the players shouldn’t have signed the CBA? I don’t remember them doing that at gunpoint.
This!
id argue there is no fixing the system. there is always going to be some variety of a loophole, and the best way to close it would be completely overhauling the system, save if they were to “fix it” by conceding 162 games should be 162 days of service time and not more then that.
Well Mr. GM, players don’t “sign the CBA” they vote on it and maybe 1% read the whole thing but the other 99% just go with what their MLBPA tells them to do.. It was definitely a loophole that the former MLBPA negotiators didn’t see but that’s why their addressed now as ‘former.’ Boras has made this his hill to die on and he unofficially runs the MLBPA now. So either expect the owners to give in significantly on service time before free agency or this loop hole is closed or likely both to avoid a strike in 2022..
Skullbreathe . Kris Bryant cried about staying down but when got injured did he give any money back for not playing ? White Sox paid jiminez early he is out this year but still cashing checks. Players get opt outs but teams get shaft . It’s the only thing the owners /teams have control /advantage
So if they give him an extension that he then proceeded to be hurt through the majority of would you call BS for him taking the money even though he wasn’t playing? Hoerner hasn’t been good in the bigs that simple
Hoerner was one of the more exciting players for the Cubs during Spring Training this year. I thought he would be their regular 2nd baseman
Of course, that’s a small sample size against inconsistent competition, and Sogard and Bote had very good Spring Trainings, too. So it’s not an unjustifiable decision.
Cubs started their rebuild when Theo resigned and they traded Yu. Pretty obvious.
You know Theo is not with the Cubs anymore… Right?
“Resigned”…not re-signed. Don’t understand the confusion here.
I thought I read re-signed for some reason
Nico hasn’t broke out yet; I don’t see much a difference in him and Bote at the moment. Nico will get to play everyday for the first month or so in AAA and the Cubs can gain a year. In 2026 they might actually be competitive again, against the league, not just the division. Nice move Cubs. I only hope they were transparent with Nico and told him this means they are willing to build the future around him, and want him around as long as possible.
That’s both Bryant and Nico now. Cubs have established an M.O. and it’s a very bad one. They should’ve taken a page from their south side rivals and treated their players with respect instead of manipulation. Then used the good-will to attempt to work out extensions. C’est le vie.
Eric Sogard/ Bote platoon > than Nico. BTW…..you wouldn’t be jonathan singleton posting as an alias would you?
Haha, take a page from their “Southside rivals” They don’t give a damn what the irrelevant clowns on the Southside are doing. The same front office that claimed to be “all in” when they traded Tatis Jr for James F’n Sheilds only to proceed to lose more games than teams actively tanking. Seriously?!? Hahaha, the Cubs have no problem attracting free agents, they don’t have to desperately gamble and extend UNPROVEN players out of fear of eventually losing them. They are utilizing the rules that were agreed to in the current CBA. It’s good business.
I don’t take it back, but I now realize the AAA season isn’t starting on time, so I do question what Nico will be doing during this first month or so. I still see Nico and Bote as apiece though. No biggie here.
extended spring training like everyone else in MLB that doesn’t make opening day
The manipulation by the Cubs in regards to service time is disgusting. No wonder the players fly the coop as soon as they can thru free agency.
Nico has played well this spring and he deserved making the roster.
No player “flys the coop” if their contract demands are met. Service time manipulation or not. If the Cubs were inclined to give Bryant a long term deal he agrees to, he’d stay in Chicago, Money talks and bullsh*t walks. As far as Nico is concerned, he will be the everyday 2nd baseman at some point.
Ignorant statement. Not a single player from their championship core “flew the coop” when they became free agents. Also, they’ve had no problem attracting free agent targets. They are utilizing the CBA to their advantage, smart business.
“Not a single player from their championship core “flew the coop” when they became free agents.” Talk about an “ignorant statement”!
I can’t believe Eric Sogard still has a job playing baseball professionally. It defies logic. I guess that LH bat outweighs that .655 lifetime OPS.
that’s better then Hoerner’s to this point
Who cares? I’m not commenting on Hoerner either way. The fact that it comes down to Sogard, however, is just mind boggling. He’s is not major league talent. He’s proven that. Surely, there will be better options DFA’d this weekend.
While Sogard’s lifetime numbers don’t look great, he had a pretty decent 2019 season, which is probably why he still has a job at this point.
Service time manipulation? Dude has a .222 MLB batting average.
Thank you John Smith——there is no service time manipulation at all. In fact, Nico would not even have a major league at bat yet if not for Javy’s broken thumb and Russell getting hit in the head with a pitch during the race in 2019.
And though proven many times, many still don’t understand that the Cubs were 100% correct in the Bryant case.
The fact remains (and always will be) that Nico was the first player from that draft to even play in the majors.
……will be very interested in the troll response if Sogard or Bote or Vargas or Bryant or Baez gets hurt and Nico is back by mid May.
Why not point out his power numbers are down too? Lol, anyone with eyeballs knows Hoerner is better then Sogard!
Could be true but from a team management perspective you’d have to cut Sogard (most likely had an opt out had he not broke camp with the team). If he sucks you can cut him loose in 3 weeks and get the kid up. It doesn’t work the same the other way. Need to keep your assets your assets.
Disrespect to the Pirates. You said it was a 4 team race. It ain’t over til its over
Really people grow up this article was poorly wrote to begin with.. Dude lets see how you play in the majors after only 375 plate appearance in the minors.. He has barely played any AA he was only brought up in 2018 because of injuries.. This has nothing to do with service time at all. He needs a full 1-3months in AA/AAA this was the whole plan. The other plan was keep him up till when AAA starts then send him down for 2months.. He will be fine just watch.. Hoerner will work at the alternate site supposedly some teams are looking at doing scrimages at alt sites for the first month.. The cubs White sox and Brewers are looking at it bc they are all nearby.. But, comeout say he a .222 hitter and saying they are manipulating service time is a load of crap!! The dude needs some devp. You remeber Starlin Castro they hardly gave him any Minor league ABs his bat payed for it.. Id be in favor if even sitting Hoerner all season to give him a full minor league season.. He got off to a hott start but has cooled significantly. Sogard is hitting the cover off the ball now. I give full props to Jed for pulling this thru! Great move for the orginzation and the future!!
Might want to proofread yourself before calling an article poorly ‘wrote.’
noo im good i know im right! Im tired of people claiming service time manipulation etc where this comes no where close to it. I can guarentee you this all GMs front office are tired if players and agents crying service time.. Now iff he had over 200 games played and over 600 Plate Appearance at the minor league level than he can come calling.. Until then they are a minor league player till they put the work in regardless how good they are! MLB and MIILB need to draw a line btw bats and pitches how many PA and innings pitch they need to have till its called service time abuse.. Maybe draw the line at 600 PA to start and about 300 Innings a start. They need a system because i can bet you everything iff this went infront of a mediator 9/10 Hoerner would lose his case because of his lack of Experiance at the lower level. Now if he was hitting over .450 with 10HRs 50RBIS and a OBP over .450 in spring training than i can argue that.. But, this is a problem we have and all MLB front office is tired of it! They need to draw a line somewhere to deterimine how much playing time is service time abuse.. Btw when they called him up in 2018 he was the first kid to be brought up from his draft class everyone else was still in High A or AA soo yaa..
Yeah drawing a line would work so well, Lol. Hoerner prolly got 25-30 AB’s so your example of 10 homers is literally impossible. Ownership/Jed knew he’d be a platoon or bench guy so why waste his service time on that even though he’s clearly better player. Even when young players come up it’s obvious that most ownership holds down their playing time/innings/save opportunities to control future earnings.
“Poorly wrote”…lol the irony.
100% agree with sportsfanatic
If he was good enough he would have gone north with the club. He needs more seasoning and Bote is currently the better player. Stop with the service time bs, good writers wouldn’t stoop to suggesting that was the reason for a player like Nico who didn’t clearly win the job.
Anyone saying stop with the service time BS and that Bote is the better player is missing the point.
The fact is that service time rules don’t incent teams to field their best rosters. So guys like Sogard hang onto roster spots while guys like Nico get stashed until the clock is delayed.
You could argue he needs more seasoning but the minor league season doesn’t start for another month so he’s just going to be taking BP not getting game reps.
Exactly, these Kool aid drinking Cubs fans can’t accept the fact that this was a blatant slap in face to Hoerner. It was definitely smart move but you wonder if these decisions have lingering effects. People obviously feel they should be rewarded when they’re clearly better than someone else at their job (Sogard in this case). Sogard completely sucks, Kipnis as I’ve mentioned before has been all-star, has more playoff experience, over 100 more career homers, much much higher career WAR, can play some OF, is 1 year younger, hometown guy, etc, etc, etc. So if they kept Kipnis over Hoerner it’s still unfair but when they demote Hoerner for Sogard ohhhh that’s just laughable.
Cubs fans point to old stats that to try & justify decisions. If Sogard and Hoerner each get 300 Abs who does better? Just like when Bryant hit like 11 homers in ST and they said ohhh his defense needs little more work, Lol. He not only lead Cubs but all of MLB. Just clown moves by Cubs ownership/front office plain & simply
actually there are talks some teams that are nearby other teams will be scrimaging each other like The Cubs at South Bend The whitesox at Guarentee rate and Brewers at Appleton.. They said when the sox hit the road the Cubs will send their Alt team up to Gaurentee rate and play games there vs the six B team same with the Brewers..
I agree 100 %
I find it hilarious that so many people are crying about “service time manipulation” over a player who had a .571 ops last year, was the first player of his draft class to get called up to the majors, and has only played in 89 career minor league games. He hasn’t even played in AAA yet. People are quick to blame the Cubs for being repeat offenders when they can only point to Kris Bryant.
It’s the era of “outrage!”. No surprise. People will b*tch about whatever they can. They are all perfect, just ask them.
More Cubs chicanery.
Worry about your own mess. Heard your next big signing will be an outfield coach, one that can teach common sense.
Haha, this! I still can’t believe White Sox fans trolling is a thing. Easily the most irrelevant team in baseball. Locally, nationally… no respect. No wonder JR wanted to move them to Tampa, the Cubs have rendered them a small market team in spite of playing in one of the largest markets in the league. Poor lil saps.
Oh yeah and that amazing Cubs “dynasty” has done so much for you we can ALL tell! Now Mom says time to take your Xanax & go back to basement and Fortnite you superstar of a human!
Haha, who said anything about a “dynasty”? Oh, I get it. Yes, 4 an obsessed Northwest Indiana White Sox fan, 5 postseasons in 6 years, including 3 straight LCS and a ring already in the bank would be a “dynasty”. The poverty White Sox have never had a run like that. Sad lil obsessive troll, it’s ok you can come out of the closet and flex your Rizzo jersey, we won’t judge.
The pnly reason you troll on Cubs stories is your inferiority complex with your team. No matter how many insults you spew your team will not be as popular as the Cubs. Deal with it.
I began rooting for Sox many years ago because #1 I usually root for the underdog ( they’re clearly that in IL) & #2 I realized at a young age there were MANY moronic, obsessed, brain washed, etc Cub fans. So should everyone root for Yankees or Dodgers because they have most fans using your logic?
It’s people like Bryzzo that made me not want to be a Cub fan. I picture him in 35-45 year old age range, he’s overweight or ugly most likely both, definitely owns Cubs underwear & socks and lives in Mom’s basement in Arlington Heights or maybe Elk Grove.
Or Schaumburg. Bryzzo became a Cub fan in 2016 when he bought his first Bryzzo shirsey, spanking new pink hat and learned the words to Go Cubs Go. Also trolls by his surname Dogbone (note the similar syntax and rants against Reinsdorf and repeated put down of people from the city).
Most knowledgeable baseball fans and people that live and work in the city switched allegiances to the Sox years ago. Also grew up a Cub fan until moving into the city and had to deal with the clueless bros and Trixies who overpaid for bleacher seats only to leave after the 7th inning stretch.
He’s got plenty of time now to go bowling with Roman.
I don’t understand the people calling Service Time at all. The kid has no AAA ABs and only half a season of ABs in the minors, and he’s struggled offensively in the big leagues. I’m a diehard Cubs fan and I’ve been rooting for this outcome because I don’t want to see another light hitting high contact defender have his development botched the way Almora’s was.
What would white sox fans do if they couldn’t complain about the Cubs? I just take pity on them.
Their envy and jealousy is so transparent. I think most take pity on them. Imagine following a team that gets no love, no respect no attention nationally or really even locally. JR shoulda followed through and moved the team to Tampa so the Northwest Indiana White Sox coulda had a chance to be relevant.
I predict White Sox will move to Nashville in 2029-2030 and that would be a brilliant move IMO. I have never lived in Indiana and probably never will for the record. Bryzzo the clown demeans NWI people not realizing that tons of those people are Cubs fans too. I laugh at how Cubs fans act like it’s a status symbol to be one of their fans too. Yeah that brain washing is working hard core on Bryzzo. Needs to donate his brain to the Ricketts science institute so they can clone him and keep making that bank off the millions of fools. Lol
Says the tomfool who became a Cub fan just in time for 2016. Hows the Hot Topic in Schaumburg?
How exactly did they botch Almora’s development? He had plenty of opportunity, didn’t get it done.
Whether Hoerner’s demotion was due to performance or service time issues doesn’t matter. Teams have every right to manipulate service time if they choose as they are operating within the bounds of the collective bargaining agreement.
As I see it Sogard has more versatility and Bote isn’t going down so Hoerner is the odd man out. It’s a 162 game season he will be back.
Question to Cubs followers, is David Bote an every day option at 2b? My fantasy manager needs to know!
No, Bote will become somewhat regular between 3b & 2b whenever Cubs unload Bryant. I was one of probably only a few who said Cubs needed to play Bote more than Bryant last year or maybe 2 years ago. Bote was far better on defense & close to the offensive production towards end of season to KB. Bryant looked slow, injured or maybe that was year he got hit in head with pitch. Whatever case “genius” Theo or Ross didn’t play Bote more than Bryant.
Not every day. Sogard will get some starts at 2nd, as will Vargas, assuming he makes the team.
Bote has been named opening day starter at second base. Pirates have not announced their starting pitcher. Bote may be getting the lion’s share of starts at 2B to start the season.
Shake your Bote
Someone please refresh my memory, did the Cubs win the World Series the year of the great Chris Bryant rostergate or the year after?
After
I don’t think it’s fueled by getting an extra year. He smashed the ball around. As someone said above. He’s not a finished product yet. He was called up abruptly when Addison Russell and baez were hurt. He tripped triple A completely. If he does great at Iowa then call him up. Dfa one of the pitchers. Not sure who made the team. If he made it. I’d dfa Rex brothers.
A’s need to Trade for Hoerner. He’s from Oakland. Bring him home!! Make it happen Beane. Put together a good offer.
Hoerner will probably be back in 6 weeks. Bote also had a great spring with more power. He deserves it just as much and has more experience. Sogard has also looked very good and gives you a much needed left handed bat in the infield. I also believe they like Vargas better than Maybin, and he can switch hit, play infield and some outfield. Tough decisions for Ross, but I completely understand.
Hoerner needs to work on his hitting in the minor leagues. Defensively he’s more than ready to handle playing every day in the Majors but offensively he needs work. As for service time, it makes sense that the Cubs will want to keep Hoerner for as long as possible since he may be the SS next year if they lose Baez
Man all this on Nico Hornet
You can tell the cubs had a quite winter lol
Nico should be at Iowa. I think he needed more development there to begin with. He was great to see when the Cubs brought him up from AA. That was surprising in itself. Good luck to Nico Hoerner at Iowa and hope to see him with the Cubs in the future.
Nico quite the ingenue
Everything the last 3 years the Cubs have done has been bizarre. They rush Hoerner to the majors and now come to realise he needs more seasoning, Idiotic. It’s doubtful Hoerner will ever become a big money FA so why now screw with Hoerner’s service time? The Cubs have no direction.
If they could sing and dance they could at least be One Direction
Report Jeff Passau and Jesse Rogers where? To Principal Skinner’s office?
The reporter has an opinion and he reported the opinion as fact which is the new way of reporting news. However, David Bote should be the 2B starter while Eric Sogard makes the team as a backup for multiple positions. Nico Hoerner should not sit on the bench so he’s sent to AAA.
I agree. Hoerner has struggled handling big league pitching. He isn’t ready for a full-time role and there is no point in slowing his development by sitting him on the bench.
The move that surprised me more was optioning Shelby Miller who had a very good spring training. I wouldn’t be all that surprised to see the Cubs utilizing Miller as a starter in AAA and him being the first man up (over Mills) if he continues to pitch well.