Chicago Cubs fans will love this Kyle Tucker comparison to Juan Soto

Jed Hoyer took a step out of his comfort zone on Friday when he signed off on the Chicago Cubs trading for superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker.

In the trade, the Cubs sent third baseman Isaac Paredes, starting pitcher Hayden Wesneski, and 2024 first-round pick Cam Smith to the Houston Astros in exchange for Tucker.

During an offseason in which the Cubs avoided entering the free-agent sweepstakes for Juan Soto, they found their superstar bat in a trade with the Astros. Interestingly enough, Soto's $765MM contract with the New York Mets likely pushed the Astros in the direction of completing the trade with the Cubs. Tucker is a free agent following the 2025 season and if healthy, likely will command north of $400MM.

Whether or not the Cubs will entertain bringing Tucker back is a conversation for another time, the conversation we're having today is the comparison of his profile to Soto's.

The Chicago Cubs got the next best thing to Juan Soto.

For a team that wasn't going to shell out over $700MM, trading for Tucker was the next best move that the Cubs could have made.

It's also a move that still falls within the ideology that Jed Hoyer has. One of the reasons why Hoyer has avoided the deepest waters of free agency in recent years is because he does not want to lock the Cubs into a bad contract at the end of the deal. They essentially want to avoid what happened with Jason Heyward. Trading for Tucker, who is set to make just over $15MM next season, is the extreme definition of a win-now move in Hoyer's mindset.

It's a move that Hoyer had to complete this offseason. Entering the final year of his contract, Hoyer was in need of the Cubs having a roster capable of reaching the postseason. Tucker's arrival is a leap in that direction.