The Chicago Cubs had a front-row seat last weekend for the emergence of Cam Smith. During a three-game series at Daikin Park, the Houston Astros right fielder clubbed two home runs, totaled four hits and drove in five runs.
Smith continued his hot streak this week during three games in Colorado, collecting eight more hits and driving in five more runs. Entering Friday he was hitting .337 with four home runs and 21 RBIs since June 1.
The former Cubs prospect has catapulted into second place among betting favorites to win American League Rookie of the Year honors. Smith, the Cubs’ 2024 first-round draft pick, was a key piece in the trade that sent All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker to Chicago.
Cubs President Jed Hoyer was asked this week whether Smith’s success adds any pressure to sign Tucker to a long-term contract. Hoyer doesn’t look at it that way.
The fact is, there will be pressure regardless of how Smith plays.
“Obviously Kyle Tucker is a player you want to have for a long time,” Hoyer said. “He’s been one of the best players in baseball this year and he does so many things well and he’s really had a significant impact on this offense. Certainly you want to keep a player like that.”
On Wednesday Tucker was voted in as an All-Star Game starter for the first time, his fourth consecutive All-Star selection. The lefty slugger was hitting .287 through Thursday with 17 home runs and 52 RBIs. The Cubs acquired Tucker in December in exchange for Smith, third baseman Isaac Paredes and right-hander Hayden Wesneski.
While Smith will remain under Astros control for the next handful of years, Tucker, 28, is in the final year of his contract and can become a free agent after the 2025 season. He’s making $16.5 million this season but is projected to get several hundred million dollars on the open market. His play this season has only upped those estimations.
Keeping Tucker likely would require the type of megadeal the Cubs have shied away from. Jason Heyward’s eight-year, $184 million deal in December 2015 remains the largest contract in franchise history.
Tucker has stayed mum on the topic, keeping his focus on the team and doing his job every day.
“I try and just come out here and do my part in helping this team win,” he said Wednesday, hours after learning he made another All-Star Game. “Obviously I’ve played with a different team other than this year. The group of guys in here, front office, staff have made it super easy for that transition.”
Tucker and agent Casey Close of Excel Sports Management might want to test the free-agent market even if Chicago remains a potential landing spot. From their perspective, it could make sense to do so.
Hoyer expressed confidence this week that he’ll have the financial resources to address what he needs before the July 31 trade deadline. The Tucker contract, though, is a different animal.
“You go into negotiations wanting to keep him,” Hoyer said. “Obviously you realize you must have your limits. We’ll keep all those things internal, but certainly I think Kyle is the kind of player you want to keep. I’ve said that all along.
“We’ll talk with Casey about that at some point, but you ultimately have to go into the negotiation with a value. You have to do that with any negotiation.”
Cubs fans took notice this week when the Kyle Tucker Foundation announced its “next chapter here in the Windy City” on Instagram with a photo of Tucker and his wife, Samantha, in Cubs jerseys. Tucker and a number of teammates spent their day off Monday taking in the city’s sights from a boat on Lake Michigan.
Rookie third baseman Matt Shaw was among those on the boat, although he didn’t say whether he and his teammates were trying to persuade Tucker to make Chicago his permanent home.
“We all had a great time,” Shaw said. “We were all in the water, so it was nice.”
Manager Craig Counsell noted this week that Tucker has “exceeded expectations” for a player coming to a new team after spending seven seasons in Houston.
“When you go to a new place and you come with maybe the attention that brings for a player like Kyle — and he’s been in one place for a long time — there’s (emotions) there,” Counsell said. “We’d all feel that if we were in that situation.
“I think our group’s done a good job, I think he’s done a good job just being himself. For some people that’s easy to do, and he’s done a great job and I applaud him for it. It’s led to a really good baseball player who’s having a great season.”
And great seasons tend to be worth big dollars.
Leave a Reply