Kyle Tucker commerce grades: Cubs make splash with blockbuster, Astros sign extra modifications are coming

The Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros agreed to a four-player blockbuster trade on Friday that sends All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker to Chicago and third baseman Isaac Paredes among the many gamers going to Houston.

Each time an enormous deal goes down, you may rely on one factor at CBS Sports activities: the commerce grades remedy. Which means evaluation on every concerned participant, in addition to ideas on the bigger circumstances. It additionally means me trying to summarize my emotions within the type of a single letter grade.

Yow will discover all of that under. First, although, right here is the commerce in entire:

• Cubs obtain: OF Kyle Tucker
• Astros obtain: 3B Isaac Paredes, 3B Cam Smith, and RHP Hayden Wesneski

Now, on to the rationale you clicked. 

Cubs: A

The Cubs are coming off a really disappointing yr that noticed them end 10 video games again of the Milwaukee Brewers. How does a staff be certain that will not occur once more? The Cubs’ reply: making an opportunistic commerce for one of many sport’s 15 finest hitters.

Honestly, that description would possibly undersell the 27-year-old Tucker. Over the past three seasons, he ranks within the prime 10 in OPS+ and within the prime 15 in Wins Above Alternative. He would fare even higher in each statistics have been it not for the damaged shin he suffered final summer time that price him vital time throughout what would’ve been a profession yr.

Tucker is an offensive pressure with a splendid mixture of barrel and zone management. He would not provide elite top-end exit velocities, however he routinely hits the ball onerous and on a line. He is averaged 28 dwelling runs per pop during the last 4 seasons, and within the final two years he is virtually walked as typically as he is struck out. It might be completely honest to explain him extra as a pure hitter with energy than an influence hitter. 

Tucker has additionally proven himself to be an efficient and environment friendly risk on the basepaths, having swiped 66 luggage (on 75 makes an attempt) during the last three years. That athleticism lends itself to him usually taking part in an above-average nook outfield. Add all of it collectively, and the Cubs simply landed themselves somebody I’d rank as their finest participant.

The query for the Cubs is now what comes subsequent — each inside this offseason and with Tucker. I’ve to imagine Chicago will discover a method to commerce Cody Bellinger over the approaching days, as a method of liberating up some cash and optimizing the roster. Would the Cubs then be keen to show round and provides Tucker a long-term extension value no matter it takes (certainly at the very least $30 million yearly)? That might be a logical follow-up step for a Cubs staff that has some huge cash coming off the books after 2026.

The Cubs have time to determine all that out. For now, they need to rejoice making a transfer that reveals they’re all about atoning for the failures of final season. 

Astros: B+

Occasions are altering in Houston. Not solely is Kyle Tucker on his method to Chicago, however the inclusion of Paredes on this deal would appear to point that franchise mainstay Alex Bregman is on his approach out as a free agent, too. The place that leaves left-hander Framber Valdez, himself underneath staff management for only one extra season, is to be decided. 

Your ideas on this commerce will align with how you’re feeling in regards to the Astros’ unwillingness to signal Tucker long run. Should you’re OK with a large-market squad bailing a yr early on a celebrity, then you may relaxation simple realizing they acquired at the very least honest worth again on this commerce. Should you’re not — and thoughts you, the Astros have solely 4 gamers locked in on assured offers past the 2026 season, and solely three past 2027 — then you definately most likely weren’t going to understand or co-sign any deal that basic supervisor Dana Brown made right here. Each are defensible positions. 

I do assume the Astros had some non-financial incentive to make a transfer like this. Houston’s farm system has suffered from all of the years of late or forfeited choices and win-now trades. That issues as a result of it is left the Astros with an getting older core that is rising dearer with every passing yr. Sooner or later, they have been going to want to infuse their staff with youth to keep away from a collective decline. Nonetheless disagreeable it’s possible you’ll discover this transfer, it ought to add two youthful bats to the lineup over the approaching yr. (To wit, the 25-year-old Paredes is projected to be the youngest member of Houston’s beginning lineup… and he has almost 4 years of major-league service time.)

There’s additionally this: you may make an actual argument that Smith is best than any of the 4 prospects the Chicago White Sox received for left-hander Garrett Crochet — and that is with the Astros additionally returning two different gamers who’ve already loved MLB success and have years of staff management remaining apiece. 

Smith, 21, performed himself into the 14th slot within the 2024 draft starting with a robust exhibiting within the 2023 Cape Cod League. A remade swing allowed him to slice into his strikeout price, dropping it from 28.7% the earlier yr to fifteen%. Smith then hit the bottom working as a professional, batting .313/.396/.609 with seven dwelling runs and two stolen bases over 32 video games. He even closed out the season with a Double-A cameo, suggesting he may — emphasis on may — attain the majors throughout the 2025 marketing campaign.

Smith combines above-average energy and endurance from the correct aspect, giving him middle-of-the-order potential. Defensively, scouts have questioned his skill to stay at third base for the lengthy haul. It is at the very least attainable that he finally ends up shifting down the defensive spectrum to a different nook. Ought to that come to cross, there will be extra strain on him making good on his offensive promise.

Paredes, 25, being on the transfer for a second time in six months speaks to the disconnect between his manufacturing (70 dwelling runs, 119 OPS+ since 2022) and the trade’s unease together with his profile. His exit velocity is abysmal for somebody with these energy marks, together with his common rating among the many 15 worst within the majors. But Paredes has mastered the One Neat Trick essential to outperform his meager energy indicators: he is the grasp at pulling the ball within the air. 

No certified MLB hitter final season pulled a better proportion of fly balls than Paredes’ 23.6%. What that allowed him to do, at the very least throughout his time with the Tampa Bay Rays, was reap the benefits of the Tropicana Discipline outfield association and stack up dwelling runs that would not have been dwelling runs in every other ballpark. The excellent news for Paredes is that he appears effectively suited to launch ball after ball into Houston’s Crawford Bins, in flip respiratory new life into his recreation after a failed stint with the Cubs. 

Wesneski, 27, has break up elements of the final three seasons between the rotation and bullpen, compiling a 3.93 ERA (106 ERA+) and a 3.05 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has an east-and-west arsenal, led by a standout swing-and-miss sweeper. I suppose it is attainable the Astros entertain utilizing Wesneski as a starter, relying on their plans for the remainder of the offseason. He has struggled with the home-run ball as a big-league pitcher, nonetheless, and he missed two months final season with a strained forearm. No matter function the Astros deploy him in, I feel he’ll present them with some worth.