The Moves That Set Cubs Up to Land Kyle Tucker

Jed Hoyer and the Chicago Cubs have finally done it. After several years of accumulating prospects and patiently sitting out free-agent bidding for certain sluggers, some chips have finally been placed into the middle of the table with the trade acquisition of Kyle Tucker. Let’s give credit where it’s due. While the move for Tucker was a no-brainer, getting to that point involved a series of shrewd moves from Hoyer’s front office.

I am sure you’re familiar with the terms of the deal by now, but just in case: the Cubs received their new right fielder from the Houston Astros in exchange for Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski, and Cam Smith. Paredes, it should be noted, wasn’t even a Cub five months back, and frankly, I really don’t think this deal gets done without his presence in it.

Rewinding a bit, I am sure you’re familiar with the Paredes trade, too. On Jul. 24, the Cubs traded Christoper Morel, Ty Johnson, and Hunter Bigge to the Tampa Bay Rays for Paredes. At the time, this was a controversial trade, and it might still be to some. Morel is oozing with potential, with a lightning-quick bat and high exit velocities. Beyond that, he was a fan favorite. Every one of his plate appearances begged for your attention. He excited Cubs fans in ways they hadn’t been excited since the 2021 trade of Javier Báez.

The sad reality, though, is that Morel just wasn’t all that productive a player. According to FanGraphs, he finished his career on the North Side with a 108 wRC+ and 3.1 WAR in 1,275 plate appearances. That comes out to about 1.5 WAR per 162 games. He had no defensive position and was an absolute disaster at third base when the Cubs tried him there full-time. While he was able to notch the high exit velocities mentioned above, it typically came with a high strikeout rate. Though he did cut back on the strikeouts a bit in 2024, a drop in those noted exit velocities came along with it.

All of that said, Morel has potential, but it was clear he was never going to reach it with the Cubs. If they were serious about contending this year, they couldn’t afford to keep letting him work through his mistakes at third base while also posting a below-average batting line. Hoyer did the sensible thing and traded him for a better player, in Paredes.

It has since been reported that the Astros were pushing hard to trade for Paredes at the deadline, as well. Whether Hoyer knew it or not, not only would Paredes give the Cubs more security at third base in 2025, but he would also have more value to other teams in an attempt to trade for a star player. This trade does not happen if the Cubs are offering Morel instead of Paredes, who is an absolutely perfect fit to pull a million (rough estimate) fly-ball home runs into the Crawford Boxes in Houston.

The inclusion of Bigge and Johnson is not nothing. It should be noted that Bigge was effective in 14 innings of work with Tampa Bay after the trade, and Johnson is a legitimate (though not a top) prospect. But if that is the cost of upgrading from Morel to Paredes, I am doing that every time.

This brings me to Wesneski. The Cubs got the Texas native from the Yankees in exchange for Scott Effross at the trade deadline in 2022. While Wesneski hasn’t quite developed into the pitcher many had hoped after his brief debut with the Cubs in 2022, he can still be a decent innings eater for a lot of teams.

The thing with the Cubs is that they have a team full of guys who can be decent innings eaters, and a lot of them have shown more ability than Wesneski already. I still have no clue if Javier Assad is good, but he now has almost 300 innings of outperforming his FIP under his belt. Jordan Wicks and Ben Brown both have more prospect pedigree. Clearly, the Cubs see something in Matthew Boyd and Nate Pearson. This is all before factoring in other moves to be made this offseason, where the Cubs are apparently still trying to acquire another starting pitcher.

Much ss Morel could yet blossom into a solid regular, Wesneski could turn into a decent pitcher. If he can figure out a way to get lefties out, his slider is good enough to keep taking care of righties. But the innings just weren’t going to be there for him on the Cubs. Effross, it should be noted, has thrown 16 innings in three injury-riddled seasons with the Yankees. As with Morel and Paredes, I don’t think the Astros are doing this deal if it’s Effross and not Wesneski.

To wrap this up, if you trace back far enough, the Cubs essentially traded Christopher Morel, Ty Johnson, Hunter Bigge, Scott Effross, and Cam Smith for Kyle Tucker. They were able to do that because Hoyer pulled the trigger on preceding deals at the correct moments. Many people, myself included, have been critical of Hoyer for a lot of reasons. For this, he deserves props.