The Cubs and Astros announced that they have made a trade that will send outfielder to Chicago, with infielder , right-hander and prospect heading to Houston. Its a move that would have been completely shocking as recently as a few weeks ago. Tucker has been a key part of the Astros dynasty and one of the best players in baseball in recent seasons. But over the past few weeks, reports emerged that the Astros were willing to listen to offers on Tucker as they looked to balance their desire to compete with some financial concerns. It appears that talks ramped up quickly and Houston found an offer they considered too good to pa s up. Tucker, 28 in January, was one of many high profile draft picks that went on to be part of the championship nucleus in Houston. The club aggre sively tanked last decade, using high draft picks to select players like , , and others. After failing to sign , their top pick in 2014, they received a compensation pick in the 2015 draft. That gave them two of the top five picks in 2015, using the second overall pick to draft and the fifth overall selection on Tucker. Both picks were big succe ses, as Bregman and Tucker each established themselves as All-Star capable big leaguers. This deal now officially ends Tuckers tenure in Houston and might poetically point to the end of Bregmans as well. Houston decision makers have long pointed to re-signing Bregman, who is currently a free agent, as a top offseason priority. However, the two sides have reportedly remained far apart in negotiations and the pivot to Paredes might signal that Bregman wont be coming back to Houston after all. Tucker, 28 in January, hit 89 home runs over the 2021 to 2023 seasons. He hit exactly 30 in the first two of those campaigns and then 29 in the third. He also stole 69 bases in that time, had above average walk and strikeout rates and strong defense. His combined line in that time was .278/.353/.517, which led to a 138 wRC+, indicating he was 38% better than league average. In 2024, he mi sed about three months due to a shin fracture but his limited performance was even stronger. He hit 23 home runs in just 78 games and his .289/.408/.585 line led to a 180 wRC+. Putting all of those traits together, Tucker was worth about five wins above replacement in each of the 2021-2023 seasons, per FanGraphs. In 2024, he racked up 4.2 fWAR even though he mi sed roughly half the year. His 19.1 fWAR over the 2021-2024 stretch puts him 13th among MLB position players, though he played fewer games than everyone ahead of him, thanks to that injury absence. Unlike some other clubs, the Astros have shown a willingne s to let their star players go get paid elsewhere. They did that with Correa, Springer and , who went on to sign with the Twins, Blue Jays and Yankees, respectively. That has aligned with a general reluctance to give out ma sive deals or pay the competitive balance tax. As shown in , s 2018 extension worth $157.5MM over six years is the biggest deal in franchise history, both in terms of years and dollars. The Astros went over the CBT line in 2020 but didnt pay any taxes as the system was put on hold in the shortened season. 2024 was the first time they went over the line and actually had to pay the tax. Coming into this winter, general manager Dana Brown suggested the club needed needed to with the budget. Owner Jim Crane later on that stance a bit, but it appears the financial constraints are real. Reporting has indicated that the Astros made an offer to Bregman of $156MM but that he is looking for something closer to $200MM. Tuckers earning power next winter is likely to be even higher than Bregmans is now. Bregman is going into his age-31 season now whereas Tucker will be going into his age-29 campaign next winter. Its po sible the Astros decided they werent likely to get a long-term deal done with either player and explored trade talks with Tucker, with this offer ticking a lot of boxes for them. It clears Tuckers salary, which projects for $15.8MM, off the 2025 books. Redirecting those savings to Bregman is still po sible but theyve also found themselves a potential replacement in Paredes. Over the past three years, Paredes has hit 70 home runs and slashed .234/.338/.437 for a 123 wRC+. Hes also bounced around the infield, though has been at third base more than anywhere else. His defense at the hot corner has been close to average but its still made him roughly a 3-4 fWAR player recently. He is projected to make $6.9MM via arbitration next year and can be controlled for two more seasons beyond that. Going to Houston might be an especially good fit for him, given that most of his home run power comes via pulling the ball towards the field foul pole. As pointed out by , his home run total of 19 in 2024 would have been 26 if he played all his games in Houston and could take advantage of the Crawford Boxes. Its still po sible that Houston could re-sign Bregman and move Paredes over to first base, since the club is also looking for help there, but time will tell how viable that is. Houston could find cheaper solutions at first base and leave Paredes at third for the next few seasons. The acquisition of Smith also provides the Astros with a potential third baseman for the future. He was just drafted by the Cubs with the 14th overall pick a few months ago and slashed .313/.396/.609 in his profe sional debut, getting into 32 games acro s three different levels, finishing at Double-A. If the Astros stick with Paredes at third, Smith could push him for the job in the coming years, with Paredes eventually getting moved acro s the diamond. The Astros also add a bit of pitching depth in the deal via Wesneski. The 27-year-old has decent underlying rates Ken Hodge Jersey thus far in his career but problems with the long ball have pushed lots of runs acro s the plate. In 190 innings thus far in his career, he has a 23% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and 43% ground ball rate. But 35 home runs, a rate of 16.7% per fly ball, have led to a 3.93 ERA. If the Astros can help him keep the ball in the park, he can be a part of their pitching staff for years to come. He has le s than two years of service time and can therefore be retained for another five seasons. The club has plenty of question marks with its pitching right now. Each of McCullers, , and mi sed all or part of 2024 due to notable arm surgeries, so each of those guys is a question mark heading into 2025. is also a trade candidate in the same vein as Tucker, since hes set to make an eight-figure salary and is one year away from free agency. had an uneven season this year. was huge for Houston but is fairly limited in terms of starting experience. was decent in his rookie year but its hard to bank on him at this point. In the bullpen, is another trade candidate. Hes set to make $14MM next year, the final season of his deal. Wesneski has worked both as a starter and as a reliever in his career, so he can help Houston in either department. For the Cubs, its a lot to give up, and thats especially true when looking back to their acquisition of Paredes. They just sent , and to the Rays a few months ago, getting Paredes ahead of the summer deadline. In a sense, they have given up those three players plus Smith and Wesneski in order to get just one season of Tucker. But there are good reasons why they have paid such a price. The club has been hovering around .500 in recent years, having a squad full of good players but lacking in truly elite ones. They also po se s a very strong pipeline of prospects, several of whom are pushing for major league playing time. They have shown a reluctance to pay top dollar for free agents, so a big trade has seemed like the best way for them to upgrade the roster. Tucker certainly qualifies. As mentioned, he has been one of the best position players in the majors recently and immediately becomes the best player for the Cubbies. Perhaps the Cubs will look to work out an extension with Tucker but that would require a very notable contract, the kind they havent given out recently. Even if Tucker is only at Wrigley for one year, the Cubs will at least be able to recoup draft pick compensation by i suing him the qualifying offer after 2025. In addition to that, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is in the final year of his contract. With the Cardinals taking their foot of the gas pedal next year and the Reds and Pirates still struggling to come out of rebuilds, theres a window for the Cubs to take a step forward, push the Brewers for the division and get Hoyer some extra job security. Its also po sible that they wont mi s any of the pieces they gave up too much, even though they make a lot of sense for Houston. As mentioned, the Cubs have an excellent farm system. On , they currently have six players on the list, which doesnt even include Smith. Though it surely hurts to give up their most recent first round pick, the farm is still in good shape overall. That farm might also be able to provide an immediate Paredes replacement. One of the clubs top prospects is , who has played a bit of middle infield but a bit more at third. He split last season between Double-A and Triple-A, slashing .284/.379/.488 for a 146 wRC+. If the Cubs feel Shaw is ready to make the jump to the majors, that may have made Paredes expendable. Wesneski is also a talented pitcher but hes been squeezed from the rotation plans in Chicago and largely kept in a swing role. Its a huge move for both clubs and will surely lead to more, especially for the Cubs. They already had a crowded outfield mix even before adding Tucker into it. They also have , , and , not to mention prospects , and . They have reportedly been trying to work out a deal involving Bellinger or, to a le ser extent, Suzuki. Happ and Suzuki both have no-trade clauses, making them difficult to move. Bellinger has an opt-out after 2025, which also makes him a tricky trade candidate. One way or another, a move from that group feels inevitable. The Yankees have been connected to both Tucker and Bellinger, so perhaps they will now focus more on the latter now that they didnt get Tucker. For the Astros, whats still unknown is if the door is totally closed to Bregman. It certainly feels like that may be the case, though its not impo sible to see a path back to Houston. estimates their competitive balance tax number at $225MM, which is $16MM shy of next years $241MM base threshold. Signing Bregman would certainly push them over, though not by as much now that Tuckers gone. They could also theoretically lower their number by trading Valdez or Pre sly. Then again, theyve been talking about signing a new deal with Bregman for two years without it happening, so perhaps this is the door finally closing. Its also unknown if Houston is content with its Tucker-le s outfield. is a strong hitter but often relegated to DH duties due to ongoing knee i sues. , and are other options on the roster, along with utility types like and . The group obviously looks weaker without Tucker in it, so perhaps the Astros will look to bolster the group in the coming weeks and months. Time will tell how the move plays out in the full offseason for both clubs. But for today, the Cubs have added a huge talent to the roster without giving up anything truly heartbreaking. The Astros have lost that huge talent but could have made up a decent amount of his value in the short term while clearly helping themselves in the long term. reported this morning that the Cubs and Astros were circling on a deal involving Tucker, Paredes and Smith. first mentioned Wesneskis inclusion. first reported that the deal was done. Marty Mcsorley Jersey