Astros trade OF Kyle Tucker to Cubs after a hectic 72-hour stretch
By Chandler Rome, Ken Rosenthal, Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney
DALLAS – The Houston Astros traded outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs on Friday afternoon, completing a crazy 72 hours for two clubs at a crossroads.
The Astros will receive a package that includes infielder Isaac Paredes, right-hander Hayden Wesneski and infield prospect Cam Smith, league sources said. The Athletics. The deal is pending a medical review.
For a Cubs team in dire need of a star, Tucker answers one of the biggest questions facing the organization since trading away its World Series core at the 2021 trade deadline. Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has within limits ownership has hesitated to pay free-agent prices for the biggest names in recent seasons, falling far short of Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani last winter and not even participating in the race for New York Mets. Juan Soto.
Tucker is expected to earn a salary of $15.8 million this winter — his last as an arbitration-eligible player. Tucker turns 28 in January and should receive a huge payday next winter in the wake of Soto’s $765 million contract with the New York Mets.
Of all major league outfielders, only Soto, Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts have more wins than replacement than Tucker since 2020. A broken tibia cost Tucker 79 games last season, but he still managed to produce 4.7 bWAR and 181 OPS+ in 339 games. plate appearances.
Trading Tucker is a departure from Houston’s standard operating procedure during this decade of dominance, but a payroll bloated by misallocated money combined with a fallow system all but forced third-year general manager Dana Brown to make Tucker available.
The fact that Houston owner Jim Crane has never guaranteed a player more than $151 million must also have been factored into the discussion. In the wake of Soto’s contract, Tucker could get a free-agent deal worth at least $400 million next winter.
For the Cubs, this is the next level of a more transactional, data-driven strategy under Hoyer, who is entering the final season of the five-year contract he signed when he replaced Theo Epstein.
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Why Kyle Tucker fits what the Chicago Cubs are looking for
The Cubs acquired Paredes from the Tampa Bay Rays less than five months ago, acquiring Christopher Morel and two young pitchers. The Astros had strong interest in Paredes at the trade deadline, finishing “second” to the Cubs in the bidding, according to a major league source.
At that trade deadline, the Cubs were not operating as traditional buyers or sellers, but were taking a mixed approach to adding and removing major league talent as they sought to build for the future.
That evolving philosophy had led the Cubs to Wesneski, a pitcher targeted at the 2022 trade deadline for his potential upside as a starter. The Cubs traded Scott Effross, a sidearm reliever under long-term control, for Wesneski, a top-level prospect in the New York Yankees’ farm system.
Wesneski, who grew up in the Houston area, didn’t quite get it done at Wrigley Field, but he has been an effective major league swingman and could benefit from a change of scenery.
The Cubs selected Smith out of Florida State in the first round of this year’s draft, adding him to their growing group of top-100 prospects. That gradual accumulation of young talent opened up new possibilities and encouraged a single-minded front office to make a blockbuster win-now trade.
But despite paying a heavy price, Hoyer now has an offensive centerpiece. It’s a group with solid – but not spectacular – talent. Surrounding Tucker with the likes of Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki – along with Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson – creates a lineup that lacks the type of player opponents need to play around. Tucker’s presence will elevate the rest of the group and help bring some stability to a lineup that too often fell into deep funks.
The price to acquire Tucker was high – especially for a player just one season removed from free agency – but he changes the dynamic of this Cubs offense. Since 2020, only nine players have led Tucker’s 143 wRC+ in that span. Since 2010, only Anthony Rizzo or Kris Bryant have posted a 140 wRC+ or higher season in a Cubs uniform.
Tucker is also an all-around threat as a strong baserunner and Gold Glove winner in right field. He has extensive postseason experience, having played in 64 playoff games and helping the Astros win the 2022 World Series.
The Cubs expect Tucker to help them return to baseball in October at Wrigley Field.
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(Photo: Tim Warner/Getty Images)
