It doesn’t matter if the price is American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil plus a prospect or three. The New York Yankees need to trade for Houston Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker, and wash their Juan Soto blues away.
Those blues are real, even if some Yankees people privately claim to be relieved that Soto didn’t accept the team’s 16-year, $760 million offer, choosing to go to the New York Mets for $5 million more instead. Bid $760 million for a player and you want him. But the argument that the Yankees can build a World Series contender without Soto? Absolutely they can. And Tucker, a left-handed slugger who has won a Gold Glove in right field and stolen 30 bases in a season, is the perfect fit.
Of course, the same can be said of Tucker with the Chicago Cubs or any other club, presuming Astros owner Jim Crane is willing to trade him, which is no guarantee. Imagine if the Cubs included infielder Isaac Paredes in a deal for Tucker, then signed another Astros mainstay, free agent Alex Bergman, to play third base. That is the kind of plan the Cubs actually might pursue if owner Tom Ricketts was operating the team as a big-market behemoth, rather than an efficient Midwest bank.
For the Yankees, a deal for Tucker, 27, would be a repeat of last offseason’s trade for Soto, who also was a year away from free agency. That deal cost the Yankees a pitcher who finished seventh in the National League Cy Young race, Michael King; a pitching prospect who headlined the San Diego Padres’ trade for Dylan Cease, Drew Thorpe; a catcher who proceeded to hit 17 home runs, Kyle Higashioka, and two other pitchers who combined to give the Padres 141 2/3 innings, Randy Vásquez and Jhony Brito.
Now that Juan Soto is officially a Met, the Yankees have work to do in adding to their offense. (Brad Penner-Imagn Images)
The package for Tucker would not be that steep, but it would hurt. Tucker, 27, is perhaps the game’s most underrated superstar, ranking third among outfielders in fWAR since becoming a full-time player in 2020, behind only Aaron Judge and Soto. The Yankees surely don’t want to make another prospect-heavy trade when they’ve done it so many times in recent years. They surely would prefer to keep Gil, whom the Astros also value for his elite arm, even with his command issues. But what choice do the Yankees have, really?
Judge and Carlos Rodón are 32. Gerrit Cole is 34, Giancarlo Stanton is 35. The competitive window with this group will not remain open indefinitely. With Judge nearing the end of his prime, the Yankees need to show urgency in trying to win their first World Series since 2009. And while club officials are pondering a variety of ways to improve, Tucker could be a linchpin of their post-Soto efforts, even if he stays only one year.
Without Soto, the only left-handed hitters who project to play regularly for the Yankees are catcher Austin Wells, infielder/outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., and switch-hitting outfielder Jasson Domínguez. Most of the best remaining free-agent hitters – Bregman, Christian Walker, Pete Alonso, Teoscar Hernández – are right-handed (Anthony Santander is a switch-hitter). The Cubs’ Cody Bellinger is a left-handed trade possibility, but he is not at Tucker’s level offensively.
The signing of free-agent left-hander Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract gave the Yankees seven potential starters – Cole, Fried, Rodón and Gil; Clarke Schmidt, Nestor Cortes Jr. and Marcus Stroman. Better run prevention will be necessary without Soto. Gil could be pivotal in that equation. But if the Yankees move him, they will be dealing from strength at a time when they are trying to address numerous needs.
Right-hander Clay Holmes also defected to the Mets as a free agent, creating a void in late-inning relief. First base is a priority, and if the Yankees added Tucker, they could go with the best all-around player, even if he is right-handed. Walker, who will play next season at 34, is a consistent hitter, savvy baserunner and winner of three straight Gold Gloves. By signing him, the Yankees could keep Chisholm at third and plunge the rest of their resources into their bullpen. They already have re-signed free-agent righty Jonathan Loáisiga.
Tucker is something of an uncomfortable superstar, relatively quiet and unassuming, almost the opposite of Soto, a showman who reveled in the love he received at Yankee Stadium (a different type of reception awaits Soto when he and the Mets visit the Yankees in May). While Tucker showed more of his personality in recent years, particularly within the Astros’ clubhouse, he is a native of Tampa, and New York might not be his idea of a long-term home.
So, just as it was for Soto, an extension with the Yankees would be highly unlikely. Soto seemed a lock to become a free agent from the moment the Yankees acquired him. He already had turned down a 15-year, $440 million offer from the Washington Nationals in 2022. And his agent, Scott Boras, generally prefers his clients to establish their values on the open market.
Tucker’s agency, Excel, negotiated extensions for Paul Goldschmidt and Pablo López shortly after they joined new teams in trades, and for Freddie Freeman and Clayton Kershaw early in their careers. While Tucker likely would be unaffected by the pressures of playing for the Yankees, he almost certainly would want to spend a full season in New York before deciding whether he wanted to stay.
The possibility of another one-and-done would be real. The acquisition cost for Tucker would be daunting. But the player, my goodness. Tucker averaged 30 homers and 149 games from 2021 to ‘23 before a fractured shin limited him to 78 games last season. He still hit 23 homers and produced a .993 OPS. Playing at Yankee Stadium, taking aim at the short right-field porch, 40 homers would be within reach.
The loss of Soto liberated the Yankees to explore alternate plans in free agency and trade. Whatever the team decides, the pieces in 2025 will not fit the same way they did in ‘24. Tucker, though, gives the club the best chance of making the puzzle work. Trade for Tucker, figure out the rest and wash the Soto Blues away.
(Top photo of Kyle Tucker: Tim Warner/Getty Images)
