The Cubs Won't Sign Juan Soto So They Should Pursue A Kyle Tucker Trade Instead

[matto1233]

The Cubs can pursue one of the best hitters in baseball and his name isn't Juan Soto.

Image courtesy of © Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

As Juan Soto continued to do Juan Soto things for the New York Yankees throughout October, I continued to be sad about the reality: he will not be a Chicago Cub this offseason. There’s been very little linking the two parties, and given recent precedent, I have no reason to believe that the Cubs will emerge as a front-runner. I would love to be wrong here more than I ever have. 

To keep twisting the knife, it feels like it would be a hand-in-glove fit, too. The Cubs sorely need to add some pop to their lineup, and right field is likely one of their few spots to do it, with Seiya Suzuki sliding over to designated hitter. What if I told you someone else was available that wouldn’t require a $600 million contract?

Chandler Rome of The Athletic has recently speculated that Kyle Tucker could be on the move. While he is certainly not as good as Soto, Tucker would still be a huge upgrade for the Cubs’ lineup. 

For those unfamiliar, since his first full season in 2020, Tucker has been one of the best players in all of baseball. His 146 wRC+ is tenth in that timeframe, according to FanGraphs. His 20.9 WAR is 13th. He is a unique blend of, well, everything. He’s struck out only 16 percent of the time for his career, which means he typically carries a fairly high batting average. He’s always had an average to slightly above average walk rate, but that has been slowly improving over time: it ballooned to 16.5 percent in 339 plate appearances this year, leading to a career-high 180 wRC+. His career isolated power of .242 would have led the Cubs this year by quite a bit, and he’s also stolen 66 bases in the past three seasons combined. 

It should be reiterated that it is, of course, speculation that Tucker would even be available. However, the more you think about it, the more sense it makes. The Astros have one impending free agent this offseason in Alex Bregman. Tucker is a free agent the following offseason. If they want to try to recoup value for some of these guys, the time is now, and Tucker would almost have to be that guy. The issue? The Astros made the playoffs this year and would almost certainly be looking for guys who could contribute to the team now. 

Who might that be? For one, I’d imagine the Astros would immediately demand Pete Crow-Armstrong be the centerpiece of this deal, and the Cubs would likely refuse to do that. For me, PCA showed enough with the bat at times this season to make him untouchable in this deal. But what about Kevin Alcantara? He could immediately slide into the Astros’ everyday lineup in any outfield spot where Houston figures to be thin. He might be the kind of cost-controlled player Houston would covet in a deal like this. 

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t stop there. The Astros would likely ask for two guys who could help the major league roster next season and seasons beyond that. What about Jordan Wicks or Ben Brown to help them fortify their pitching staff? Lastly, Houston would probably go for someone a bit further away from the majors to start restocking their farm system. Would the Cubs also be willing to part with someone like James Triantos or Cam Smith?

It should be mentioned that all of this likely hinges on Cody Bellinger’s looming contract decision. Should he opt-in, things will be cluttered in the Cubs’ pool of position players, but they could get creative. What if they traded Michael Busch to the Astros instead of Alcantara? This would open up first base for Bellinger to play full-time. 

It feels like a lot for Kyle Tucker when laid out like this. On the flip side, if the Cubs want to improve, they must be creative. They have a lot of prospect capital. It might be time to start cashing that in if they aren’t going to spend extravagantly in free agency. What do you think? Is this too much for one year of Kyle Tucker? Too little? What would you give up?

View full article

[LBiittner]

I doubt seriously any team will venture a gamble on Wicks having 2 oblique injuries and a forearm injury all in 2024.

And Brown is even more of a roll of the dice because nobody has ever pitched while wearing a neckbrace. And a cloud of mystery surrounds the Cubs explanation thus far to what ails the youngsters cervical limitations