The bullpen problems the Cubs had in their loss to the Mets yesterday is more of the same of the Hoyer era. Every season the Cubs rebuild their bullpen mostly from pitchers who were let go from other teams. When they do sign a free-agent reliever it is not when that person is at their prime but rather after their prime when they don’t command as high a salary. Hoyer’s plan for building a championship team is predicated largely on luck, but luck is not a strategy. No matter whether the Cubs win the division at the end of the season, Ricketts has only one question to answer and that is, based on his body of work, can Jed Hoyer build a consistently championship level competitive team? I think the evidence since 2017 is clear, he cannot and it is time for a change in direction.