Who are cornerstones for next great Cubs team? Who knows?

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Not even Jed Hoyer seems to know who the cornerstones are for the “next great Cubs team.”

“You asked about the pillars,” Cubs president Jed Hoyer said on ESPN 1000’s “Kap and J Hood” on Wednesday. “The picture of what the next great Cubs team looks like, there’s paint on the easel. 

“But it’s not in total focus at this point, and I don't think it could be.”

If Hoyer has more of an idea than that, he’s not willing to say.

“I think as far as the pillars go — we talk a lot about building the core — I think I'd be wrong in my job to sit here and sort of list off which players in our system, which players on our team I believe are part of that,” Hoyer said.

Even 10 years ago, in the early stages of their last rebuild, the Cubs talked openly about Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro as future cornerstones, and referenced Jeff Samardzija at times as well.

As they now rebuild for the second time in a decade, there’s no timeline for that next great Cubs team. And with where they are in their current process, it’s too early to say who those next cornerstones will be, or who's even going to be in place.

The Cubs’ top position player prospects are in the lower levels of the minor leagues. Christopher Morel has shined this season but has only been in the big leagues for a month.

The Cubs are high on Caleb Kilian, their most-anticipated pitching prospect since Mark Prior, but he’s made less than a handful of starts and has battled command issues.

RELATED: Caleb Kilian embraces hype but not enough of strike zone

Willson Contreras is set to hit free agency this winter and Ian Happ the one after that.

You get the picture.

It’s why even Hoyer doesn’t have an exact timeline for how long this rebuild will last.

"I have a sense of how to build the next great team and where we want to go," he said in a lengthy media session last week. "I didn’t give you any sense of timing. In fact, I don’t have a feel for that.”

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