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Since Juan Soto agreed to his deal with the New York Mets, perhaps no other team has had more buzz around it than the Houston Astros. That's because on Monday, Astros GM Dana Brown indicated that he would be willing to deal two of his best players in Kyle Tucker and Framber Valdez. You can now add the Chicago Cubs to the list of teams interested.
MLB Network's Jon Morosi is reporting that the Cubs and New York Yankees are both interested in trading for Tucker, a three-time All-Star who hit for a 181 OPS+ in 2024.
“The Yankees do like Kyle Tucker. The Cubs do like Kyle Tucker. But the Astros still like Kyle Tucker as well. So at the moment, there is still a higher chance of Kyle Tucker being an Astro on Opening Day than being elsewhere,” he cautioned. “But let me tell you why there’s at least some chance of a trade involving Kyle Tucker. The overall free agent prices right now are quite high and the number of teams with a great capacity to add high dollar free agents is relatively small, which means trade candidates like Tucker, even those entering his final year before free agency, are more valuable than ever.”
For the Yankees, Tucker would be someone who can help make up for what they lost when Soto decided to sign across town.
“He actually had a higher adjusted OPS than Juan Soto in 2024,” Morosi added. “Now he played in half as many games. To be clear, he was injured, he had the stress reaction in his shin so that is the health piece of it and how many games he’ll play is a real consideration here. He is not Juan Soto. But when you think about the Yankees’ interest in Tucker, he can help them replace the production they lost in Juan Soto.”
The Cubs, meanwhile, could look at Tucker as a replacement for Cody Bellinger, whom they are considering trading. Bellinger has two years and $52 million left on his deal that includes a player option for 2026. Tucker will be a free agent next winter.
