Cubs Trade For Kyle Tucker And Find Their Star

Good morning Chicago fans! The world spins madly on, and the Cubs may have broken us out of the cycle.

We were stuck. Chris Sale was traded to the Red Sox in 2016, the White Sox rebuild failed, and then Garret Crochet was traded to the Red Sox this week. The Bears fire every head coach one year after drafting every new quarterback. Luckily, Jed Hoyer woke up. Kyle Tucker is in town!

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MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL TONIGHT

Bears at 11-2 Vikings

At this point in the season, I’m expecting a blowout.

After the Vikings beat the Bears in overtime a few weeks ago, they won a close game 23-22 vs. the Cardinals and destroyed the Falcons 42-21. Sam Darnold threw 5 touchdowns last week!

Braxton Jones has been ruled out with a concussion. D’Andre Swift is questionable, so we may see a lot of Travis Homer in the backfield. Gervon Dexter is out with a knee injury, so the inside of the defensive line will get pushed into oblivion.

The players who wanted all of these coaching changes got their wish and then laid an egg in San Francisco. At least show some effort tonight.

I’m an “every game matters” fan who looks forward to the draft, wishes for player development, and cares about every snap. Tonight? It really doesn’t matter what happens. The season is a wash. Maybe they figure something out. Great. Maybe they make more business decisions. Cool.

This season has been more of a nightmare than any worst-case scenario. An uninspired team with an interim head coach playing an elite division rival is not a recipe for Monday night entertainment.

SEASON RECORD: 4-9 (Last place)

NEWS & NOTES

Placed DeAndre Carter on IR, signed DL Jonathan Ford from the Packers practice squad, signed RB Royce Freeman to the practice squad

Head Coach Search:

• Bill Belichick and his crew who landed on the University of North Carolina job came to the conclusion that the Bears prefer an offensive coach, possibly Ben Johnson

• 3 potential candidates have ties to Boston College (Ryan Poles’ school): Brian Flores (played there 1999-2003), Ben Johnson (graduate assistant 2009-2011), and Mike Vrabel (son played there 2018-2021)

• The biggest question is if they HAVE to get an offensive coach to reach the highest ceiling with Caleb Williams. I don’t believe so, but the dream of finding the next Sean McVay will always be there.

• I’m sick of all these coaches folding under pressure and being unqualified for the job. Chicago needs a Chicago-worthy coach. Vrabel is probably my current favorite, but we’ll see what other names pop up.

Ryan Poles has taken a lot of public heat lately. At the current rate of disasters at Halas Hall, they’ll probably let Poles hire the next coach, fire Poles after next season because the tension with Kevin Warren boils over, and then hire a new GM to pair with the existing coach.

TROPHY TRACKER (4/10 ➡ 🏆)

RESULTS

W - Blackhawks 2, Rangers 1: Anders Sorensen’s first win as head coach!!

• Kevin Korchinski had an impressive season debut as the defensemen continued to be more involved in the offensive zone

• Taylor Hall had 1 goal and 1 assist

• Arvid Soderblom lived out a childhood dream of playing at Madison Square Garden and stopped 29 of 30 shots

L - Islanders 5, Blackhawks 4: The new look Hawks still let go of the rope…

• Connor Bedard scored for the 1-0 lead, but poor defensemen positioning and goalie play resulted in 5 straight Islanders goals

• Drew Commesso made his NHL debut when Soderblom was pulled after 5 goals

• Final push was too little too late as Tyler Bertuzzi scored 2 of 3 3rd period goals

L - Devils 4, Blackhawks 1: ANOTHER 3rd period collapse

• Commesso made a bunch of impressive saves in his first NHL start

• Jason Dickinson scored the lone goal off Luke Hughes’ face 😂

• Devils scored 3 3rd period goals in just 2:06 as TJ Brodie and Wyatt Kaiser had a tough game

W - Blackhawks 5, Islanders 3: Connor Bedard last minute winner!!!

• Bedard scored the GWG with 54 seconds on the clock to end the recent 3rd period curse

• Teuvo Teravainen had his best game since the first week of the season (1g/2a)

SEASON RECORD: 10-19-2 (22 points)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Connor Bedard

Someone’s swagger is back!! 2 goals, 4 assists (6 points) and a GWG

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Connor Bedard goal

NEWS & NOTES

Recalled Frank Nazar from the AHL, placed Alec Martinez on IR, Joey Anderson cleared waivers and remained with the team

Nazar centered Hall and Bertuzzi in his 2 games

Blackhawks have killed 25 straight penalties!!! 🏅

Blackhawks have scored the first goal in 13 of their last 14 games and in 20 games this season 🤷‍♂️

TROPHY TRACKER (2/10 ➡ 🏆)

RESULTS

W - Bulls 109, Hornets 95: Sloppy win after 4 full days off

• Bulls held a team to under 100 points for the first time since October 30th vs. the Magic as the Hornets shot 8/46 (17.4%) from 3PT

• Jalen Smith started for the sick Nikola Vucevic and recorded an 11p/11r double-double

• Lonzo Ball was 1 of 6 Bulls in double digits (10p) but missed the opportunity to face his brother as LaMelo sat out due to injury

SEASON RECORD: 11-15 (9th place in East)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Josh Giddey

Efficient game ended in a near triple-double (17p/7a/9r, +15)

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Lonzo Ball to Zach LaVine alley oop

NEWS & NOTES

Bulls had 4 days off during the NBA Cup tournament. The Bucks and Thunder will play in the championship tomorrow night.

Patrick Williams returned from injury and had a tough night - only 4 points on 1-7 shooting in 14 minutes

The United Center chanted “We want Taj!”, and the Hornets put Bulls legend Taj Gibson in for the last minute of the game!

TROPHY TRACKER (1/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

🚨 Traded Isaac Paredes, Cam Smith, and Hayden Wesneski to the Houston Astros for Kyle Tucker 🚨

The Cubs found a star!!!

After decades of seeing Chicago teams pass on opportunities to land superstars, Jed Hoyer made the aggressive move to add an elite hitter in Kyle Tucker.

I LOVE this trade. The lineup has been inconsistent for the last two seasons and was one of the worst in baseball in May and June of 2024. Without any open spots on the diamond, they actually made the one type of move that could improve the offense.

Adding a star changes the makeup and stability of the lineup. Tucker has 3 full seasons under his belt (2021-2023) and an injury-shortened 2024 season. He was great in all 4 years!

2021: 5.7 WAR, 30 HR, 92 RBI, .917 OPS, 90 K vs. 53 BB, 14 SB

2022: 5.4 WAR, 30 HR, 107 RBI, .808 OPS, 95 K vs. 59 BB, 25 SB

2023: 5.4 WAR, 29 HR, 112 RBI, .886 OPS, 92 K vs. 80 BB, 30 SB

2024 (78 G): 4.7 WAR (!!!), 23 HR (!!!), 49 RBI, .993 OPS (!!!), 54 K vs. 56 BB (!!!), 11 SB

Tucker was on pace for 9.7 WAR in 2024 - Aaron Judge had 10.8, Bobby Witt Jr. had 9.4, and Shohei Ohtani had 9.2.

He adds the slugging the Cubs have missed since trading the core in 2021. The lack of home runs killed their chances for big wins last season and stuck the bullpen in too many impossible 1-0 situations.

His power does not eliminate his plate discipline, contact ability, or fairly even L/R splits. He has it all as a 27-year old lefty with a Gold Glove Award on the shelf. Bat him 2nd every day and forget about it.

Tucker only has 1 year left on his contract, which raises all of the necessary questions. Will the Cubs be willing to pay a star over $300M? Over $400M? Will they go more than 7 years? They should have handed him an extension offer the second the trade was official, but it sounds like Tucker wants to see what free agency will have in store for him next year.

Even with no guarantee of an extension, this deal was worth it. The Astros are crazy to let go of this talented of a player.

Yes, it was at the expense of the next 9 years of 3rd basemen for the Cubs. Paredes had 3 years of control, and Cam Smith has accelerated quickly in the minors. However, the Cubs essentially traded Christopher Morel (from the Paredes deal) and a recent 2024 draft pick for one of the best players in the game.

The most significant result of this trade - a signal of change.

Jed and Carter were serious about improving this team. About adding wins. About finding impact talent. About playing baseball in October again under the Wrigley Field lights.

The Cubs have tried and failed to find the answer in RF since Sammy Sosa was in town. From Burnitz to Jacque to Fukudome to Heyward to Suzuki and everyone in between, they finally found their guy.

Signed C Carson Kelly to a 2-year, $11.5M contract

• Solid upgrade at backup catcher

• Outside of a couple good years with the Diamondbacks, he has generally struggled as a hitter (career .681 OPS)

• Kelly is known for his defensive reliability and throwing out baserunners, which the Cubs sorely needed after last year’s fiasco

• I still want to see a big splash for a catcher. Miguel Amaya might continue to develop and be a good player next year, but I’d rather see a trade for someone else

MLB Draft Lottery: Cubs will draft 17th despite having the 16th best odds before the lottery (Nationals will pick 1st)

Rule 5 Draft: Selected 3B Gage Workman from the Tigers

• Can play all over the infield and hit for power (.280 AVG with 18 HR in AA last season)

• Played baseball with Brennen Davis in high school

• 6’4” lefty who recently gave up switch hitting and improved at the plate

Sad update from Ryne Sandberg - his cancer returned, and he will begin more intensive treatments. Prayers for Ryno 🙏🙏🙏

Seiya Suzuki’s agent disclosed that Seiya does not want to be a full-time DH. The Cubs informed his agent that teams are interested in trading for Seiya despite his no-trade clause, but they are not currently shopping him.

Dansby Swanson had sports hernia surgery in October and will be ready for Spring Training. Jed Hoyer was surprised when the issue came up after the season because Dansby finished the season strong.

Old friend Mike Tauchman is staying home…on the south side. He signed a 1-year contract with the White Sox! He must have felt bad after walking them off so many times…

What’s next??? Cody Bellinger might be on the move to the Yankees. Jesus Luzardo, Luis Castillo, or other starters might be joining the Cubs. Who plays 3B? Will Seiya accept being the DH?

TROPHY TRACKER (5/10 ➡ 🏆)

Nikola Vucevic

Vooch bought toys for kids from The Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago!

I love hearing his voice inflections and seeing his interactions with the kids:

The Cubs have to acquire a third baseman who can match Isaac Paredes.

In a matter of months, the Cubs went from fixing their third base problem for the next 9 years to creating a giant vacuum with only Matt Shaw waiting in the wings.

Shipping Paredes out to Houston is fine by me. He struggled with the Cubs, his power vanished at Wrigley Field, and he’ll thrive with the Crawford Boxes at Minute Maid Park. Even though he’s a good baseball player, acquiring him in July only created another logjam for future prospects.

With Paredes under control for 3 more seasons and Cam Smith bursting onto the scene and obliterating A-ball pitching, the hole left by Kris Bryant in 2021 had an impressive solution.

But when a superstar becomes available, you do what it takes.

By all accounts, Shaw has looked great at the hot corner, and his defense hasn’t concerned anyone in the organization. I just don’t believe he’ll be rushed into the big leagues as the Opening Day 3rd baseman. He only had 131 AAA at-bats. Even if he’s the long-term plan at 3rd (or even 2nd base), any big league production this coming season would be a bonus.

So the 2025 Cubs are left without a 3rd baseman. Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins were adamant about adding wins to the team this offseason. I don’t believe their entire plan was to ship out a player who had 4.2 WAR in 2023 and throw some young guys into the lineup on any given day. They already did the mix-and-match plan with Morel, Madrigal, Wisdom, Bote, Mastrobuoni and everyone else over the last couple seasons.

There has to be another move. The Cubs wanted to improve their lineup this offseason, so they have to find a quality replacement for Paredes.

Dan Wiederer - Ryan Poles is in line to hire another coach. But should he be? (Chicago Tribune)

Ben Pope - Can Anders Sorensen ignite Lukas Reichel and Philipp Kurashev? (Chicago Sun-Times)

Julia Poe - Coby White has the green light from behind the arc (Chicago Tribune)

Patrick Mooney and Tim Britton - What would a Justin Steele contract extension look like? (The Athletic)

Patrick Finley, Jason Lieser and Mark Potash - Analyzing the Bears’ struggles, firings and potential hirings (Chicago Sun-Times)

Mark Lazerus - How Anders Sorensen won over Blackhawks veterans (The Athletic)

Thanks for reading! Have a great week refreshing every news feed for more Cubs trades!