Last November, with one year left on his contract, Theo Epstein stepped away from the Cubs and general manager Jed Hoyer took his spot as president of baseball operations.  The ongoing pandemic left the remainder of the front office as is, until this week, when the Cubs quietly (or as quietly as the Cubs can do anything) announced they had hired Carter Hawkins as their new general manager, filling Hoyer’s former role.  Hawkins had spent his entire 14 year career in Cleveland’s front office, mostly on the player development side.

Elsewhere in the front office, assistant GM Randy Bush, who has been with the team since 2005 and in his position since 2006, announced this week that he would be “stepping back” after a pandemic-fueled life assessment.  He will move into an advisory role that will allow him to spend more time with his family at their Florida home.  The Cubs are expected to hire Ehsan Bokhari as assistant GM following the World Series.  Bokhari is currently the Senior Director of Player Evaluation for the Astros, who won the AL pennant last night.

Finally, at least for now, senior vice president of player personnel Jason McLeod announced he would be leaving the organization.  He joined 10 years ago, along with Theo and Jed, and oversaw an overhaul of the scouting and player development groups before transitioning to his current role.