The Chicago Cubs are hoping to retain Kyle Tucker this offseason, but they know it won’t be easy with the large number of teams expected to pursue him.
Tucker’s contract in free agency is expected to be around $400 million, a number that only he will command this winter. The Cubs have a lot of areas they need to address this winter in hopes of contending for the National League Central title next season against the Milwaukee Brewers.
How much the Cubs are willing to spend in free agency this winter is unknown, but the organization is all-in on trying to build a winning roster. Kerry Miller believes the organization should pursue Tucker and build the roster around him.
“The Cubs have a bunch of free-agent pitchers they could look to re-sign, Brad Keller foremost among them after the sensational job the 30-year-old former starting pitcher did in the late innings this year,” Miller wrote for Bleacher Report. “But Tucker is the obvious choice for this spot, in part because of what lies in store for them next winter when all of Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki and Nico Hoerner will be hitting free agency, and Dansby Swanson won’t be getting any younger.”
Of the free agents the Cubs could potentially lose, Tucker is the frontrunner as far as being the priority. None of the other players mentioned are even in the same stratosphere as him. The question for the cubs lies with how the spend their money to build as strong of a team as possible.
Essentially, the Cubs have two options: pay Tucker $40.1 million per year over 10 years and risk having a player of lesser quality at a different position, or use the money they would pay Tucker and spread it out to build a well-balanced roster.
One important concept to note is both teams in the World Series have flaws in their rosters. The Los Angeles Dodgers have one of the worst bullpens in playoff history while the Toronto Blue Jays do not have much depth. Both teams would have loved to have fixed that issue by now, but it was their stars, such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Shohei Ohtani, who got them to this point and helped them overcome the weaknesses.
