Welcome to the party, Chicago Cubs.
Just as the winter was starting to look like a massive disappointment on the North Side, the Cubs stepped up and landed the best possible trade target on the position player. They nabbed three-time All-Star Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros to be their new right fielder.
Chicago is now undeniably better positioned to compete for a division title in 2025, which should always be the goal in such a big market. Because Tucker is a free agent after this season, though, the Cubs are now in an awkward position–essentially the same one the New York Yankees just faced with Juan Soto.
With only one year of Tucker under contract, the Cubs are shifting to win-now mode. They will surely try to work out an extension with their new star, but free agency will always be the place a player like Tucker can get paid the most, so they have to convince him to stay.
The best way to do that is to win big in 2025. The Cubs should go the extra mile and make another blockbuster trade–this time, for right-handed pitcher Dylan Cease of the San Diego Padres.
Cease, 28, has two top-five Cy Young finishes in the last three seasons, and has become one of the best strikeout artists in the game. He, too, has one year remaining on his contract, with a projected $13 million salary in arbitration (per Spotrac).
If the Cubs are going to go all-in on the 2025 season, they might as well do it right. Bringing Cease and Tucker in on the same timeline would instill a sense of urgency to the rest of the club, while hopefully increasing the odds that either or both would stick around.
Plus, the Cubs still have a deep farm system to deal from. According to MLB.com, even after the Tucker deal, they have six Top 100 prospects, and if they’d rather hang onto minor leaguers, they still have big-leaguers Cody Bellinger, Seiya Suzuki, and Nico Hoerner as trade bait.
The Cubs have to keep wheeling and dealing if they want to catch the Milwaukee Brewers. Pairing Cease with Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele atop the rotation is the perfect way to start.
More MLB: Cubs acquire 3-time All-Star in sweeping 4-player blockbuster with Astros
