Cubs fans will break if this insider's wild Kyle Tucker idea becomes true

There would be a level of frustration from Chicago Cubs fans if the Cubs lose Kyle Tucker this offseason to the Los Angeles Dodgers, considering the Dodgers have made a habit of floating bags of money in front of Cubs' targets and making sure they don't look back. Tucker signing with the Dodgers would be the defining update of that. However, Ken Rosenthal floated an idea that would simply make Cubs fans lose all their senses.

"As a free agent, Tucker figures to command at least three times that much, maybe more. The range might be far out of Zalupski’s comfort zone. But what better way for a new owner to announce his intentions than by signing the best free agent available?"

That is Rosenthal, in his latest "What I'm hearing" update, making the case for the Tampa Bay Rays to sign Tucker. The premise being that the Rays have a new owner in Patrick Zalupski, and should be out of the Wander Franco contract. Essentially, what Rosenthal is saying is what better way for a new owner to have a sky-high approval rating than to sign the top free agent available this offseason.

Cubs fans can’t handle the wild Kyle Tucker scenario floated by insider

There would also be a level of irony to the Rays being the team to poach Tucker away from the Cubs. After all, the Rays' model, despite the Cubs being in the third-largest market in baseball, has been the blueprint for what Jed Hoyer's front office is trying to accomplish. Make strategic splashes in free agency, but the core of contention would be derived from the team's farm system. It's flawed logic considering the Rays, despite years of contention, have yet to win a World Series, last appearing in the Fall Classic in 2008.

It's a fun idea for Rosenthal to suggest, and one that usually comes to life when there's no baseball being played during the All-Star break, but one that loses merit once the realization is made that Tucker's next contract will be $500MM and Zalupski just paid $1.7 billion for the Rays. That math doesn't add up for the Rays' payroll situation next season.

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