How do the Yankees wash away their Juan Soto blues? Trade for Kyle Tucker from Astros

It doesn’t matter if the award is American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil plus a prospect or three. The New York Yankees need to trade for right fielder Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros and wash away their Juan Soto blues.

Those blues are real, even if some Yankees people privately claim to be relieved that Soto didn’t accept the team’s 16-year, $760 million offer, opting to go to the New York Mets for $5 million guaranteed more (and a year less) instead of. Bid $760 million on a player and you want him. But the argument that the Yankees can build a World Series contender without Soto? Absolutely, they can. And Tucker, a left-handed slugger who won a Gold Glove in right field and stole 30 bases in a season, is a perfect fit.

Of course, the same could be said for Tucker at the Chicago Cubs or any other club, assuming Astros owner Jim Crane is willing to trade him, which isn’t a guarantee. Imagine if the Cubs included infielder Isaac Paredes in a deal for Tucker, then signed another Astros mainstay, free agent Alex Bregman, to play third base. That’s the kind of plan the Cubs would actually pursue if owner Tom Ricketts ran the team like a big-market behemoth instead of an efficient Midwestern bank.

For the Yankees, a deal for the 27-year-old Tucker would be a repeat of last season’s trade for Soto, who was also a year away from free agency. That deal cost the Yankees a pitcher who finished seventh in the National League Cy Young race, Michael King; a pitching prospect who headlined the San Diego Padres’ trade for Dylan Cease, Drew Thorpe; a catcher who went on to hit 17 home runs, Kyle Higashioka; and two other pitchers who combined to give the Padres 141 2/3 innings, Randy Vásquez and Jhony Brito.

Now that Juan Soto is a Met, the Yankees have work to do to expand their offense. (Brad Penner/Imagn Images)

The package for Tucker wouldn’t be that high, but it would hurt. Tucker is perhaps the game’s most underrated superstar, ranking third among outfielders in fWAR since becoming a full-time player in 2020, behind only Aaron Judge and Soto. The Yankees certainly don’t want to make another prospect-heavy trade after having done so many times in recent years. They would certainly prefer to keep Gil, who the Astros also value for his elite arm, even with his command issues. But what choice do the Yankees really have?

Judge and Carlos Rodón are 32. Gerrit Cole is 34, Giancarlo Stanton is 35. The competitive window with this group will not remain open indefinitely. With Judge nearing the end of his prime, the Yankees must show urgency in their bid to win their first World Series since 2009. And as club officials consider different ways to improve, Tucker could be a linchpin in their post-Soto efforts. , even if he only stays for a year.

Without Soto, the only left-handed hitters who plan to play regularly for the Yankees are catcher Austin Wells, infielder/outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. and switch-hitting outfielder Jasson Domínguez. Most of the best remaining free-agent hitters – Bregman, Christian Walker, Pete Alonso, Teoscar Hernández – are right-handed (Anthony Santander is a switch hitter). The Cubs’ Cody Bellinger is a left-handed trade option, but he’s not at Tucker’s level offensively.

The signing of free-agent left-hander Max Fried to an eight-year contract worth $218 million gave the Yankees seven potential starters: Cole, Fried, Rodón and Gil, plus Clarke Schmidt, Nestor Cortes Jr. and Marcus Stroman. Without Soto, better running prevention will be necessary. Gil could play a crucial role in this. But if the Yankees move him, they will be acting from strength at a time when they are trying to fill a myriad of needs.

Right-hander Clay Holmes also defected to the Mets as a free agent, leaving a void in the late inning. First base is a priority, and if the Yankees add Tucker, they could go with the best all-around player, even if he is right-handed. Walker, who will play next season at age 34, is a consistent hitter, smart baserunner and winner of three straight Gold Gloves. Signing him allowed the Yankees to keep Chisholm at third and put the rest of their resources into their bullpen. They have already re-signed free agent Jonathan Loáisiga.

Tucker is a kind of awkward superstar, relatively quiet and unassuming, almost the opposite of Soto, a showman who reveled in the love he received at Yankee Stadium (a different kind of reception awaits Soto when he and the Mets visit the Yankees in May) . While Tucker has shown more of his personality in recent years, especially in the Astros’ clubhouse, he is from Tampa and New York may not be his idea of ​​a long-term home.

So, as with Soto, an extension with the Yankees would be highly unlikely. Soto seemed likely to become a free agent from the moment the Yankees acquired him. He had already turned down a 15-year, $440 million offer from the Washington Nationals in 2022. And his agent, Scott Boras, generally prefers his clients establish their values ​​on the open market.

Tucker’s agency, Excel, negotiated extensions for Paul Goldschmidt and Pablo López shortly after they joined new teams in trades, and for Freddie Freeman and Clayton Kershaw early in their careers. While Tucker likely wouldn’t be bothered by the pressure of playing for the Yankees, he would almost certainly want to spend a full season in New York before deciding whether to stay.

The possibility of another one-and-done would be real. The acquisition costs for Tucker would be enormous. But the player, my goodness. Tucker averaged 30 home runs and 149 games from 2021 to ’23 before a broken tibia limited him to 78 games last season. He still hit 23 home runs and produced a .993 OPS. If he played at Yankee Stadium and aimed for the short porch in right field, 40 home runs would be within reach.

The loss of Soto freed the Yankees to explore alternative plans in free agency and trade. Whatever the team decides, the pieces won’t fit the same way in 2025 as they did in ’24. However, Tucker gives the club the best chance to make the puzzle work. Trade for Tucker, sort out the rest and wash the Soto Blues away.

(Top photo of Kyle Tucker: Tim Warner/Getty Images)