What started as a day dream back in October, quickly turned into a possibility during the Winter Meetings and now it's reality. The Cubs have traded for star outfielder Kyle Tucker.
BREAKING: The Cubs are acquiring Kyle Tucker from the Astros in exchange for Isaac Paredes, Cam Smith & Hayden Wesneski, per Jeff Passan. pic.twitter.com/EX5aHpQkyx
— Cubs Zone (@CubsZone) December 13, 2024
Whenever you look at star players that you desperately want to trade for the biggest hurdle is that player actually being available. Sorry, you're not playing MLB The Show, you can't turn on force trades. Yes, it's fun to speculate what it would take to get a certain guy, for example Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but the Toronto Blue Jays have made it clear so far that they have no interest in trading him.
The Cubs needed a star hitter, a legit 30+ home run slugger, a 5 WAR player and those don't often come available, but when they do you'd hope this front office would explore the opportunity. Well, I guess every player that fits into the team's budget because as we just saw the Cubs never even looked at Juan Soto in free agency.
Speaking at the Winter Meetings on Monday, Astros' GM Dana Brown did not shut down original trade rumors when asked about two upcoming free agents for Houston.
Some thoughts from GM Dana Brown from his suite in Dallas, including being open to trading Tucker and/or Valdez.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) December 9, 2024
Brown said earlier nothing is the off the tables pic.twitter.com/V9Sh909sQN
Now, that wasn't Brown outwardly saying that the Astors are actively shopping either player, but it's still worth noting that Houston was open to the possibility. I wanted Kyle Tucker.
The left-handed hitter played his first full length season in the big leagues in 2021. Since then, Tucker ranks 10th among all MLB hitters with a 145 wRC+. That's also fifth best among right fielders. He's been worth 19.1 fWAR in the past four seasons.
Tucker was limited to 78 games in 2024 and that might cause some pause, but it was a shin fracture, which he did recover from fully and once he came back in September, Tucker posted a 1.041 OPS in 18 games. He ended the 2024 season with 23 home runs and was worth 4.2 fWAR. Let's compare those numbers to the 2024 Cubs.
Dansby Swanson led the 2024 Cubs with a 4..3 fWAR. He played in 149 games.
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) December 10, 2024
Kyle Tucker played in 78 games in 2024 and had a 4.2 fWAR. He hit 23 HR in 339 plate appearances.
Ian Happ led the 2024 Cubs with 25 HR in 657 plate appearances.
Tucker is a 3x All-Star, 2022 Gold Glove winner, 2023 Silver Slugger Winner, a 3x All-MLB Second Team player and has an .888 OPS since during the past four seasons.
