MESA, ARIZ. – Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is not viewing the first day of spring training as a hard deadline for extension talks with Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner’s camps.
“We’ve had good dialogue with both sides,” Hoyer said Wednesday. “We’re not going to cut it off because we’re here today. Like I said, my preference is really not to get towards the end of spring training and get to a place where I feel like it’s affecting the preparation and mentality, I would say, for the season.”
He’d shared that sentiment earlier in the offseason, and he said he’s also communicated that preference to the players’ representatives.