Next season is a crucial one for the Cubs — and it’s just as big for president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, too.

Even if that’s not the approach he’s taking.

Entering the final year of his contract, Hoyer has yet to deliver a postseason appearance in his first 4 years as the head of the Cubs’ baseball decision-making and his team has produced consecutive 83-79 records.

“I think there’s always pressure,” Hoyer said during Tuesday’s end-of-season press conference. “It’s professional sports, I think that’s part of it. But no, I’m excited about next year and I look at it as an opportunity.

“I feel pressure, but I feel the pressure I always should feel, which is, I’m president of the Cubs and this is an exciting opportunity and exciting time to be in this role, and we’re in a really good position.”

[Watch the entire Hoyer end-of-season press conference on the Marquee Sports Network app]

At various points during his 40-plus minutes behind the microphone at the media room inside Wrigley Field, Hoyer mentioned the health of the Cubs organization — a young core of position players and pitchers and a top farm system. But he mentioned it with the juxtaposition of where the team sits.

“I think we showed, at times for long stretches, that we’re a really good team, but ultimately it’s pretty binary,” Hoyer said. “We’re not playing today, we’re having a press conference today, and I think that from [owner] Tom [Ricketts] on down, I think there’s a level of disappointment in that. And so of course, there’s frustration.

“I think there should be frustration when you fall short of a goal that you set a year ago.”

[MORE: Jed Hoyer assesses 2024 Cubs season: ‘I think there should be frustration’]

Both can be true: the Cubs organization seems to be in a good spot in terms of talent and future outlooks, but the results — in an industry that is all about it — haven’t been up to par.

“Obviously I have to take accountability for that — consecutive 83-win teams,” Hoyer said. “We have to push beyond that. But in terms of positioning this organization for success next year and success in the future, I feel great about where we are as an organization and think the fans should feel good about it too.”

That lack of clarity beyond 2025 isn’t weighing on Hoyer’s mind, but there’s no doubt the results will be crucial for him and Cubs fans. But he’s not going to treat 2025 as an “all-in” sort of year.  

[MORE: Cubs announce coaching changes, including parting ways with first base coach]

Since he’s taken over from Theo Epstein, Hoyer has preached the long-term outlook and sustained success rather than flash-in-the-pan years. His words on Tuesday are in line with that approach — whether he’s the one in charge of those decisions 365 days from now or not.

“I think truly having a healthy organization can lead us to that sustained success where the playoffs are an expectation and not a surprise and not a one-year thing,” he said. “And that’s the goal. It’s not a one-year thing and pushing on it for a year. It’s about, ‘How do we build it up to sustain that?’

“And I think we’re on the right path at doing that, and I think we keep making good decisions and stacking those on top of each other, we’ll get to that point.”