You can place blame upon many different people, when it comes to the Chicago Cubs 2026 season going off the rails. Manager Craig Counsell is often placed high on the list of scapegoats. General Manager Carter Hawkins sometimes gets fingers pointed at his way as well. However, the buck truly stops with Team President Jed Hoyer. He built this team, after Owner Tom Ricketts gave him a war chest to work with.
Jed has simply squandered it; bungling the opportunity to finally step out of Theo Epstein’s shadow for good
Yes, the Cubs won a series last night! Back-to-back series actually…against the two worst teams in the National League. However, even if with this latest “run” of winning most of the games that you’re supposed to, they’re still eight games behind in the NL Central division race.
When you’re in the third largest market, with a huge payroll and one of the biggest brands in the sport, the division crown is just basically expected. Trying to keep up with the Milwaukee Brewers is only the floor, not the ceiling. Like I said, the Cubs are a huge brand, and always will be.
University of Illinois DE Joe Barna, a die-hard Cubs fan, signifies this perfectly. Barna said it best, shortly before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field ahead of the Cubs hosting the Athletics on Illini Night.
“I grew up a Cubs fan. My whole family consists of Cubs fans, as long as I’ve known,” Barna said in an exclusive interview with Ratings.
“I’m honored to be able to do this for Illini Nation, but yeah, it’s a surreal thing.”
That’s all the feels right there, if you’re a Cubs fan. However, it’s not about feelings, experiences or good times right now in 2026. The “lovable losers” are long dead. It’s about winning games, and since the 27-12 start to the campaign, the Cubs are doing exactly the opposite of that.
Since coming out of the gates strong, they’ve gone just 11-24 since; let’s take a look at why.
Whiffed on Swanson Signing, Early Returns on Bregman Bad
The Cubs lead MLB in total runners left on base (LOB) for the 2026 season thus far, stranding 396 runners.
- Ian Happ (Chicago Cubs): 107 LOB
- Nolan Schanuel: 104
- Alex Bregman: 103 (Chicago Cubs)
- Tyler Soderstrom: 101
- Colson Montgomery: 97
- Seiya Suzuki (Chicago Cubs): 96
- Michael Busch (Chicago Cubs) 93
Happ, to his credit, is an elite overall player. This is just the statistic he’s weakest in. However, it’s also a very important stat! As for Bregman, he deserves credit for being open and honest about how bad he’s been so far this season. When you’re paid $175,000,000 over five years and you only drive in 23 runs over the first 80 games…yikes! So he’s on pace to drive in 47 runs this season. Ouch.
And Dansby Swanson signed a seven-year $177,000,000 deal in the 2022-2023 offseason to be a one-way player (to borrow a basketball or hockey term). We’re past Flag Day and nearing Juneteenth, and his batting average currently is…wait for it…176!
Yes, he’s a great defensive shortstop, but if you can’t hit at least .200, then you don’t belong in the big leagues.
You certainly don’t deserve to start, and you’re definitely not worth $177M.
That’s on Jed Hoyer for making that albatross of a contract happen.
We’ll see what happens with Bregman; like Swanson, his contract has four years left to run after this year.
Will Hawkins and/or Counsell Take the Fall for Jed?
While the Cubs won’t be coming back into the division race (it is donezo, sadly), they’re still in the thick of the wild card race. They are literally tied with the San Diego Padres and the Washington Nationals for the third and final NL Wild Card position. Yes, that’s how much Major League Baseball has watered down the playoffs.
The postseason has been diluted so badly that even a Cubs team that has been deservedly compared to the uninspiring 2009 edition can somehow get in. Yes, really.
And if they do get in…doubtful Jed Hoyer, or Hawkins or Counsell or anybody of note really, will lose their gig.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.