The Chicago Cubs are 7-5 on the season and favored to make a run in the National League Central, but their outlook beyond this season isn't as kind if they don't make one critical move – extend outfielder Kyle Tucker.
The Cubs traded for Tucker this winter in a package that included now-Astros top prospect Cam Smith. While Tucker has shown flashes in the north side of Chicago thus far, he's also remained relatively quiet about his long-term plans, and his price tag just went up. Jed Hoyer is on the clock.
Late on Sunday night, the Toronto Blue Jays signed Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a 14-year, $500 million contract extension. Guerrero Jr. was set to be the prize of the 2025 free agent class. Now that he is off the market, Tucker takes the mantle. The 28-year-old is a three-time All-Star, gold glover and silver slugger winner. If Guerrero Jr. is worth $500 million, then Tucker has his own argument at a similar deal, assuming the market doesn't suddenly dry up between now and winter.
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Chicago Cubs between rock and hard place with Kyle Tucker
Over the weekend, Ken Rosenthal, Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma detailed the Chicago Cubs penny-pinching ways since their last World Series in 2016 in a shocking report ($) that should anger any fan on the north side of the Windy City. Rival executives have grown surprised that the Cubs haven't spent more in free agency, not just in free agency and trades, but to retain their own talent.
“They’re going to have a test case with Kyle Tucker,” a rival executive said. “One extension probably puts all of that discussion to bed. And they have been active in a variety of these conversations. They just haven’t quite landed the player.”
Jed Hoyer is the Cubs ultimate fall guy
Per a chart from BrooksGate that was featured heavily in The Athletic's article, the Cubs spend just over 36 percent of their revenue on player payroll, good for fifth-worst in MLB and just above the likes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays. As if that weren't bad enough, the Cubs revenue streams are the third-highest in baseball at $584 million.
Whether fair or not, Hoyer has been set up as the fall guy if the Cubs ultimately fail to re-sign Tucker or contend with their current group. Hoyer has remained loyal to ownership, even thanking the Ricketts family publicly for allowing him to make a lackluster offer to then-free agent Alex Bregman, who instead signed with the Boston Red Sox.
The Cubs will not be able to extend Tucker without the Ricketts buy-in, and for now they seem content making money hand over fist from Wrigley Field and their Wrigleyville properties, all the while the on-field product slowly deteriorates. If Chicago fires Hoyer, the next lead executive will face the same limitations.