The 2025 Major League Baseball Trade Deadline has come and gone. The Chicago Cubs, who are sitting with one of the best records in the MLB, had an underwhelming deadline.
Chicago wasn’t as aggressive as other teams and added a utility player in Willi Castro and a couple of average pitchers in Michael Soroka and Andrew Kittredge. The Cubs’ moves will likely not put them over the top this season, which could come back to hurt them over the next few years.
This past offseason, Chicago traded for Houston Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker. The 28-year-old slugger is in the final season of a $16.5 million deal.
The time for the Cubs to strike was this season since they still have Tucker, but their recent deadline moves might have hinted at the possibility of Tucker’s future.
One of the Cubs’ top prospects is outfielder Owen Caissie. The 23-year-old prospect would’ve been on the big league roster by now if it weren’t for Tucker.
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Since there is a chance Tucker won’t return to Chicago next season, the Cubs probably didn’t want to move Caissie since he will take over if Tucker does leave in free agency.
Jake Misener from Fansided thinks that the Cubs know Tucker is leaving next offseason due to how they handled the trade deadline.
“In a post-deadline appearance on 670 The Score, Hoyer was pressed on whether or not holding onto Owen Caissie had anything to do with the fact that Kyle Tucker will be a free agent at year’s end. A free agent who, by most estimates, is looking at a $400+ million payday – well outside the scope of anything the Cubs have ever offered anyone,” Misener wrote. “Hoyer acknowledged not including top prospect Owen Caissie in a blockbuster was ‘somewhat connected’ to the uncertainty with Tucker, but said there’s a future where both could be on the team long-term. That’s laughable to think, given Pete Crow-Armstrong has center field locked down and the team has both Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki under team control through next year, but here we are. The Cubs are safeguarding against what feels inevitable: Kyle Tucker will depart in the offseason with his big bag of money, and Chicago will turn to a highly touted, yet unproven prospect in hopes he can step in and fill the shoes of a four-time All-Star.”
The Cubs should’ve gone all in this season and tried to win the World Series. Players like Tucker only come around once in a while and Chicago should’ve taken the opportunity.
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