Astros trade OF Kyle Tucker to Cubs after crazy 72-hour window

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 frenetic 72 hours for two clubs facing 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. Athletics. The agreement is pending a medical examination.

For a Cubs team that desperately needed a star, Tucker answers one of the biggest questions the organization has faced since trading the World Series core at the 2021 trade deadline. Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, who works within the parameters of ownership, has been hesitant to pay free-agent prices for the biggest names in recent offseasons, and he walked away from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani last winter, coming not even in the running for the New York Mets ‘ Juan Soto.

Tucker is expected to earn a $15.8 million salary this winter — his last as an arbitration-eligible player. Tucker turns 28 in January and will get a massive payday next winter in the wake of Soto’s $765 million contract with the New York Mets.

Among all major-league outfielders, only Soto, Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts have accumulated more wins above 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+ across 339 plate appearances.

Trading Tucker is a departure from Houston’s standard operating procedure in this decade of dominance, but a payroll bloated by misallocated money combined with a fallow system nearly forced third-year general manager Dana Brown to deal Tucker.

That Houston owner Jim Crane has never guaranteed a player more than $151 million must have factored into the discussion as well. In the wake of Soto’s contract, Tucker could receive a free-agent deal next winter worth at least $400 million.

For the Cubs, this is the next level in 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.

GO DEEPER

Why Kyle Tucker Fits What the Chicago Cubs Are Looking For

The Cubs acquired Paredes less than five months ago from the Tampa Bay Rays, giving up Christopher Morel and two young pitchers. The Astros had a lot of interest in Paredes during the trade deadline, and according to a major league source, they “finished second” to the Cubs in bidding.

At this trade deadline, the Cubs did not operate as traditional buyers or sellers, taking a mixed approach to adding and subtracting major-league talent while trying 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 scrutiny, for Wesneski, a top-tier prospect in the New York Yankees’ farm system.

Wesneski, who grew up in the Houston area, didn’t quite put it all together 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. The gradual accumulation of young talent opened up new opportunities and encouraged a conscious front office to make a grand 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 — expands a lineup that lacked the type of player opponents need to scheme for. Tucker’s presence will lift the rest of the group and help bring some stability to a lineup that too often went into deep funks.

The price to acquire Tucker was high – especially for a player who is only a season away from free agency – but he changes the dynamic of this Cubs offense. Since 2020, only nine players have topped Tucker’s 143 wRC+ during that span. Since 2010, only Anthony Rizzo or Kris Bryant have posted a season of 140 wRC+ or more in a Cubs uniform.

Tucker is also an all-around threat as a strong baserunner and a Gold Glove winner in right field. He has extensive postseason experience after playing in 64 playoff games and helping the Astros win the 2022 World Series.

The Cubs expect Tucker to help them get back to October baseball at Wrigley Field.

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(Photo: Tim Warner/Getty Images)