MESA, Ariz. — There’s a sense of optimism in the air as Cubs’ pitchers and catchers report to kick off Spring Training — and the good vibes seem to extend to president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and the front office.

Hoyer has mentioned this offseason his desire to work on contract extensions with Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ ahead of the heart of Spring Training and feels there is optimism in that regard.

“We’ve had good dialogue with both sides,” Hoyer said at his press conference kicking off Spring Training Wednesday. “Definitely positive conversations for sure.”

So, what does that mean in terms of a deadline for talks? Well, it’s not Wednesday or any day coming soon.

“My preference is really not to get into towards the end of Spring Training and get to a place where I feel like it’s affecting the preparation and mentality for the season,” Hoyer said. “I do think that has happened. I’ve seen that happen before. That’s something we’ll be aware of and we’ve talked to both camps about that but the conversations are good.

“We’re not gonna set some sort of firm deadline.”

Happ, 28, is coming off a career year, where he was an All-Star and Gold Glover, posted a 4.4 WAR (per Baseball-Reference), a .781 OPS and a 119 OPS+ this season. Happ is in his final year of team control and was the center of speculation around last season’s trade deadline.

Hoerner, 25, posted a 4.5 WAR (per Baseball-Reference) while playing stellar defense at shortstop and hit .281. He will move to second base this year as Dansby Swanson will play shortstop after signing in the offseason.

Injury Updates

Hoyer updated the status of a trio of Cubs pitchers on Wednesday, too.

Codi Heuer and Ethan Roberts are both rehabbing from Tommy John and are at various points in their return.

Heuer is throwing off a mound, but likely is quite a bit away from pitching on a big-league mound. He underwent surgery in March 2022.

Here’s Codi Heuer throwing earlier today in camp.

Jed Hoyer mentioned there’s a possibility he could start the season on the 60-day IL and they’d monitor his workload this season. #Cubs pic.twitter.com/g0wIX2jT3C

— Andy Martínez (@amartinez_11) February 15, 2023

 “We’re gonna talk through the 60-day IL with him,” Hoyer said. “That’s a possibility given the rehab. And even within the whole year, we’re gonna be talking about his workload and talking about back-to-backs and things like that.”

Hendricks should throw his first bullpen soon, but is still recovering from a capsular tear in his right shoulder.

“We know he’s going to be delayed,” Hoyer said. “We’ll have a lot of discussions about how much. Certainly, we’re prepared to start the season without him and we’ll see when he comes back. But the most important thing is getting him back to pitching like Kyle Hendricks. We’re willing to wait a little while for that.” 

Roberts is throwing off flat ground at 75 feet and the next step is throwing from 120 feet. He underwent Tommy John surgery in June of last year.

Special locker

Dansby Swanson met the media Wednesday morning, his locker situated in the middle of the major-league clubhouse, next to a hallway leading into the team-only areas. It’s a locker that used to belong to Jason Heyward.

“Me and Jason we go way back; I love J,” Swanson said. “It’s funny, I remember hearing all the stories about him when he was 16 playing up at East Cobb and I was like 10 or 11 but we’ve developed such a great relationship and he’s been awesome for me.”

Swanson has quickly taken a leadership role on the team — much like Heyward did — and he reached out to every player after he signed with the team. The two share much more in common, too, as both are from the Atlanta-area and Swanson followed Heyward’s exploits when he was in high school.

“He’s just a phenomenal human,” Swanson said. “He’s obviously done so much for the Chicago community. He just opened his new academy. He just does so much for a lot of people. He’s a tremendous human and he’s definitely someone I’m grateful that I can learn from.”