The Chicago Cubs made a bold move to acquire Kyle Tucker in the offseason, yet one Major League Baseball executive thinks its could be a bad move.
Tucker is in the final year of club control and will be a free agent at the end of the year. If Chicago doesn’t re-sign him, one executive thinks it will go down as one of the worst trades of all time.
“If the Cubs don’t extend him, that may go down as an all-time terrible trade,” an NL executive said.
Chicago dealt Cam Smith, one of the team’s top prospects, Isaac Paredes, and Hayden Wesneski for Tucker. It was a lot to acquire the star outfielder, but if the Cubs extend him, it will all be worth it.
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However, another NL exec thinks it will be pricey for Chicago to extend Tucker.
“If he wants to stay in Chicago, he can always sign there in the winter,” an NL exec said. “Prior to that, I imagine it would take a massive overpay to get him to forgo an opportunity on the open market. Since he’s a couple years older than Vlad and doesn’t have the same tie-in with the Cubs that Vlad has with the Jays -- or with the country, for that matter -- I would be surprised if they would be willing to go far enough during the season to make him bite early.”
To begin his tenure with the Cubs, Tucker is hitting .313 with 5 home runs and 18 RBIs in 80 at-bats.
Tucker is a three-time MLB All-Star as well as a one-time Gold Glove Award winner and a one-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He also helped the Astros win the World Series in 2022.
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