Ex-MLB exec sees Cubs still involved in Kyle Tucker derby despite climbing pricetag

As Kyle Tucker continues to be exactly the kind of hitter the Chicago Cubs should want to keep around long term, talk about just how much money he’ll be demanding if he hits the free agent ranks keep going up. The question, as always, is whether or not the front office will be real players as that asking price continues climbing.

The defeatest Cubs fans might decide that even the $500 million contract talk surrounding Tucker is out of Tom Ricketts’ price range. Certainly, opposing executives would love if that was the case. However, there is at least one former exec who believes that even if the outfielder’s cost goes up to $600 million, the Cubs will still at least be in the race. That’s how good Tucker is and how much the front office knows it needs him.

Cubs fans won’t love the company they’re keeping in Kyle Tucker chase

Jim Bowden wrote in The Athletic about how he believes that the Chicago Cubs outfielder will be the best free agent in this class. Especially with Juan Soto and Vladimir Guerrero not being anywhere near the market.

“Following Juan Soto’s record-setting $765 million deal in free agency and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s $500 million extension, Tucker is expected to land a nine-figure contract that starts with a 6,” Bowden wrote, delivering the bad news. 

“Several big-market teams, including the Cubs, Phillies, Yankees, and Dodgers, should be in play for him,” he added, offering a bit of good news into the mix.

While it’s certainly not ideal that the Yankees and Dodgers (and Phillies, for that matter) might be in the race to sign Tucker, it’s a bit of good news that Bowden thinks Chicago isn’t just going to drop out the minute his possible salary approaches something stratospherical.

Of course, with the outfielder being just 28 and despite a few-week slump, still putting together the kind of season Jed Hoyer had to be hoping for when he traded for him, it would be foolish if the Chicago Cubs didn’t stay in the bidding until the very end.