The Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros agreed to a four-player blockbuster commerce on Friday that sends All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker to Chicago and third baseman Isaac Paredes among the many gamers going to Houston.
Whenever an enormous deal goes down, you possibly can depend on one factor at CBS Sports: the commerce grades therapy. That means evaluation on every concerned participant, in addition to ideas on the bigger circumstances. It additionally means me trying to summarize my emotions within the type of a single letter grade.
You can discover all of that beneath. First, although, right here is the commerce in complete:
Now, on to the rationale you clicked.
Cubs: A
The Cubs are coming off a really disappointing 12 months that noticed them end 10 video games again of the Milwaukee Brewers. How does a crew be sure that will not occur once more? The Cubs’ reply: making an opportunistic commerce for one of many sport’s 15 finest hitters.
Truthfully, that description may undersell the 27-year-old Tucker. Over the final three seasons, he ranks within the prime 10 in OPS+ and within the prime 15 in Wins Above Replacement. He would fare even higher in each statistics had been it not for the damaged shin he suffered final summer season that value him vital time throughout what would’ve been a profession 12 months.
Tucker is an offensive pressure with a splendid mixture of barrel and zone management. He would not supply elite top-end exit velocities, however he routinely hits the ball laborious and on a line. He’s averaged 28 house runs per pop over the past 4 seasons, and within the final two years he is nearly walked as usually as he is struck out. It can be completely honest to explain him extra as a pure hitter with energy than an influence hitter.
Tucker has additionally proven himself to be an efficient and environment friendly risk on the basepaths, having swiped 66 luggage (on 75 makes an attempt) over the past three years. That athleticism lends itself to him typically enjoying an above-average nook outfield. Add all of it collectively, and the Cubs simply landed themselves somebody I might rank as their finest participant.
The query for the Cubs is now what comes subsequent — each inside this offseason and with Tucker. I’ve to consider Chicago will discover a technique to commerce Cody Bellinger over the approaching days, as a method of releasing up some cash and optimizing the roster. Would the Cubs then be prepared to show round and provides Tucker a long-term extension price no matter it takes (absolutely no less than $30 million yearly)? That can be a logical follow-up step for a Cubs crew that has some huge cash coming off the books after 2026.
The Cubs have time to determine all that out. For now, they need to rejoice making a transfer that reveals they’re all about atoning for the failures of final season.
Astros: B+
Times are altering in Houston. Not solely is Kyle Tucker on his technique to Chicago, however the inclusion of Paredes on this deal would appear to point that franchise mainstay Alex Bregman is on his manner out as a free agent, too. Where that leaves left-hander Framber Valdez, himself beneath crew management for only one extra season, is to be decided.
Your ideas on this commerce will align with how you are feeling in regards to the Astros’ unwillingness to signal Tucker long run. If you are OK with a large-market squad bailing a 12 months early on a famous person, then you possibly can relaxation straightforward understanding they acquired no less than honest worth again on this commerce. If you are not — and thoughts you, the Astros have solely 4 gamers locked in on assured offers past the 2026 season, and solely three past 2027 — then you definately in all probability weren’t going to understand or co-sign any deal that normal supervisor Dana Brown made right here. Both are defensible positions.
I do suppose the Astros had some non-financial incentive to make a transfer like this. Houston’s farm system has suffered from all of the years of late or forfeited picks and win-now trades. That issues as a result of it is left the Astros with an getting old core that is rising dearer with every passing 12 months. At some level, they had been going to want to infuse their crew with youth to keep away from a collective decline. However disagreeable it’s possible you’ll discover this transfer, it ought to add two youthful bats to the lineup over the approaching 12 months. (To wit, the 25-year-old Paredes is projected to be the youngest member of Houston’s beginning lineup… and he has practically 4 years of major-league service time.)
There’s additionally this: you can also make an actual argument that Smith is best than any of the 4 prospects the Chicago White Sox acquired for left-hander Garrett Crochet — and that is with the Astros additionally returning two different gamers who’ve already loved MLB success and have years of crew management remaining apiece.
Smith, 21, performed himself into the 14th slot within the 2024 draft starting with a powerful exhibiting within the 2023 Cape Cod League. A remade swing allowed him to slice into his strikeout price, dropping it from 28.7% the earlier 12 months to fifteen%. Smith then hit the bottom working as a professional, batting .313/.396/.609 with seven house runs and two stolen bases over 32 video games. He even closed out the season with a Double-A cameo, suggesting he may — emphasis on may — attain the majors through the 2025 marketing campaign.
Smith combines above-average energy and persistence from the appropriate facet, giving him middle-of-the-order potential. Defensively, scouts have questioned his potential to stay at third base for the lengthy haul. It’s no less than doable that he finally ends up shifting down the defensive spectrum to a different nook. Should that come to cross, there will be extra stress on him making good on his offensive promise.
Paredes, 25, being on the transfer for a second time in six months speaks to the disconnect between his manufacturing (70 house runs, 119 OPS+ since 2022) and the business’s unease along with his profile. His exit velocity is abysmal for somebody with these energy marks, along with his common rating among the many 15 worst within the majors. Yet Paredes has mastered the One Neat Trick essential to outperform his meager energy indicators: he is the grasp at pulling the ball within the air.
No certified MLB hitter final season pulled a better share of fly balls than Paredes’ 23.6%. What that allowed him to do, no less than throughout his time with the Tampa Bay Rays, was make the most of the Tropicana Field outfield association and stack up house runs that would not have been house runs in some other ballpark. The excellent news for Paredes is that he appears properly suited to launch ball after ball into Houston’s Crawford Boxes, in flip respiration new life into his recreation after a failed stint with the Cubs.
Wesneski, 27, has break up elements of the final three seasons between the rotation and bullpen, compiling a 3.93 ERA (106 ERA+) and a 3.05 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has an east-and-west arsenal, led by a standout swing-and-miss sweeper. I suppose it is doable the Astros entertain utilizing Wesneski as a starter, relying on their plans for the remainder of the offseason. He has struggled with the home-run ball as a big-league pitcher, nonetheless, and he missed two months final season with a strained forearm. Whatever function the Astros deploy him in, I believe he’ll present them with some worth.
