How are the Cubs responding to Marcus Stroman’s pointed contract message on

CHICAGO — The awkward silence lasted about 15 seconds as Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer sat down in the Wrigley Field dugout before Wednesday’s game and waited for someone to ask the first question. Everyone in that media scrum paying attention must have been thinking about the one topic that will dominate the talk around the team until the Aug. 1 trade deadline: Have you tweeted back at Marcus Stroman yet?

“I don’t tweet,” Hoyer said with a laugh.

Hoyer is hyperaware of social media and public perception, but those factors rarely influence his decision-making process. Since taking over for Theo Epstein after the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Hoyer has consistently prioritized the long term over the moment, trusting data and R&D while setting aside his own personal feelings.

That is the front office that Stroman called out last weekend on Twitter. This is how Stroman responded to a post from a Cubs fan who simply listed Stroman’s awesome stats so far this season: “My agent and I made multiple attempts to engage them on an extension. Club wasn’t interested in exploring it now. Will see how it plays out! Love everything about the @Cubs organization!”

Talk about a textbook example of what legendary manager Lou Piniella used to describe as a “Cubbie occurrence.” Stroman has outperformed the team’s expectations when he signed a three-year, $71 million contract before Major League Baseball’s lockout. The team has helped Stroman reach the level of a potential Cy Young Award winner by employing bright pitching coaches and several Gold Glove-caliber defenders. Yet this is the focus when the Cubs are only 4.5 games out of first place (albeit with a 30-37 record after Wednesday’s 10-6 comeback win over the Pirates).

“Honestly, like I talked about a million times, we just don’t talk about those things,” Hoyer said. “Obviously, he made that public. Listen, I love the fact that he wants to be here. We’ve had conversations about it. I’m not going to disclose what we’ve talked about. But there is dialogue. We’ll keep that in-house.”

Stroman, in a follow-up interview with a small group of reporters after sending the tweet, repeatedly used the word “nothing” to describe what he’s heard from the front office whenever his side has tried to engage the club.

Stroman is currently represented by Brodie Van Wagenen, who once traded for Stroman while working as the Mets’ general manager. Van Wagenen, a longtime agent who’s now the chief operating officer at Roc Nation Sports, didn’t negotiate Stroman’s contract, which includes an opt-out clause after this season. The Cubs can’t extend Stroman a qualifying offer — and thus get the draft-pick compensation should he sign with another team — since he already received one from the Mets after sitting out the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns.

This marks Hoyer’s 12th season in the Cubs organization as either the No. 1…