The Cubs would have happily kept going with Renteria had Maddon never become available.I think the difference was the Cubs were on the cusp of contending AND Maddon became available. Not sure Renteria would have been canned if Maddon hasn't become available, but I don't recall who else was available at the time. Right now, the Cubs are not on the cusp of anything, other than getting a top 3 draft pick.
I just mentioned Ross’ job security because when a team underperforms expectations, it often falls on the manager. And 10-18 is underperforming expectations, even when expectations were pretty modest.
If I was able to corner Hoyer, the main things I’d want to know is why he couldn’t get a better bridge to Davis and Crow-Armstrong in CF and why there doesn’t seem to be any plan at DH at all before Caissie makes it up circa 2025. This team would be so much better with, say, Canha and Schwarber added to it, and they’d still only be about 10th in MLB in payroll.