The Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has broken his silence on Kyle Tucker’s looming free agency.
The Cubs made a bold move to trade Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski, and prospect Cam Smith to the Houston Astros for Tucker. Although Tucker is a star player, he only has one year left on his deal, so it was a risk to trade for the pending free agent.
However, Hoyer says Tucker makes the Cubs a much better baseball team, so they had to make the trade. Hoyer also says in a 1-on-1 Q&A with The Athletic that he is hopeful Tucker will be a Cub for a long time.
“Obviously, he makes us much better. And you get a chance to get to know him, to watch him. You made the point, he’s going to command a hefty price,” Hoyer said. “It’s too early and I’m not going to talk about negotiations or talk about where we are, but certainly, he’s a kind of player you’d love to have for a long time as well.”
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Tucker is earning $16.5 million in 2025 and will be in for a hefty raise in free agency if he gets there. However, the star outfielder has said he is open to re-signing with the Cubs.
“Definitely Chicago’s, you know, great city to play in. Great city just in general,” Tucker said after the trade. “So I’m open for anything.”
Tucker is a three-time All-Star, one-time Gold Glove Award winner, and one-time Silver Slugger Award winner.
Chicago is off to a 0-2 start to their 2025 Major League Baseball season after being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tokyo series.
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