On Friday, ESPN’s Jesse Armstrong suggested that Chicago Cubs president Jed Hoyer would be all for finalizing a deal to send Boston Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman to the North Side. Still, owner Tom Ricketts would need to be convinced to take on a $40 million per year contract.
Ricketts has been reluctant to spend on big fish in the past, claiming that his goal with the Cubs is to break even. Chicago’s lack of will to pay elite stars might make right fielder Kyle Tucker a one-year loaner. The three-time All-Star is expected to earn a new contract worth $400-600 million.
The Chicago Cubs have 5 players to worry about amid Kyle Tucker
If the Cubs do re-sign Tucker, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic named five players on the current roster who might not rejoin the team in 2026, including two starting pitchers and three key pieces of the lineup.
“The Cubs could lose five more important players to the open market after 2026, making an aggressive push at this year’s trade deadline all the more imperative,” Rosenthal wrote. The potential members of the free-agent class of 2026-27 are left fielder Ian Happ, designated hitter Seiya Suzuki, second baseman Nico Hoerner, right-hander Jameson Taillon and left-hander Matt Boyd.
“That group, combined with Tucker, accounted for 37 percent of the team’s fWAR entering Tuesday. And while the Cubs might retain some of those players, they are unlikely to keep all of them, Tucker in particular.”
Any deal needs to make financial sense
Hoyer said earlier this year that any contract extension for Tucker needed to make financial sense for the Cubs. Chicago cannot re-sign Tucker at the expense of not being able to put a competitive roster around him.
It would not be a terrible trade-off to re-sign Tucker at the expense of a starting pitcher in his mid-30s. But losing a few players might take Chicago out of being a contender in the NL Central.
The Cubs need Hoerner, Suzuki, and Happ to stay with the team in the long term, and that might mean Tucker will have to go.
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