Before Kyle Tucker was traded from the Astros to the Cubs, the Yankees were known to be one of the teams also vying to land the star outfielder. Reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil was reportedly of interest to the Astros in these trade talks, but New York ultimately turned down Houston’s demand for Gil and infield prospect George Lombard Jr. in exchange for Tucker, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
It makes for an interesting contrast to the trade package that the Astros did accept from Chicago. Lombard and prospect Cam Smith could be viewed as essentially a match as recent first-round draft picks, though Smith is higher regarded in the view of MLB Pipeline (Smith is 73rd on their top-100 prospect list and Lombard isn’t on the list). Gil is a controllable pitcher who has already made a name for himself at the big league level, so Isaac Paredes and Hayden Wesneski represent something of a split of those two resume points. Wesneski is controlled through 2029 and has a solid 3.93 ERA over his 190 Major League innings, but he isn’t considered to have quite Gil’s ceiling, so making up that difference could’ve been achieved by adding a proven hitter like Paredes.
Landing three players instead of two obviously allowed the Astros to address more needs, as Paredes can help fill one of Houston’s corner infield vacancies and Wesneski brings rotation depth. Gil would’ve been a more clear-cut installation into the Astros rotation and perhaps then necessitated another trade, since the Astros on paper have a surplus of rotation options. However, since Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. are both returning from lengthy injury absences, the Astros might also want to see how things play out in Spring Training before dealing an arm, lest the club again get caught with a lack of depth in the rotation.
Interestingly, the Yankees did indeed trade a starting pitcher and an infield prospect for a prominent star player with one year remaining before free agency, except rather than Gil/Lombard for Tucker, it was Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin going to the Brewers for closer Devin Williams. The two trade packages have some differences, of course, as Cortes is a year away from free agency, and was viewed a more expendable part of New York’s pitching mix since he was relegated to bullpen duty in the playoffs and was floated in trade rumors at the deadline. Durbin is also over five years older than Lombard and is considered to be on the verge of his MLB debut, whereas Lombard has yet to reach even the Double-A level.
The timing of the negotiations between the Astros and Yankees was perhaps also a factor. If the Yankees were already well down the road in talks with Milwaukee about Williams, that might’ve made the Bronx Bombers less likely to deplete their pitching and prospect depth even further by accepting the Astros’ offer for Tucker. Some New York fans might well wonder “why not both?”, as even without Gil or Cortes, the Yankees still have a projected starting five of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt, Marcus Stroman, and newly-signed frontline arm Max Fried. Acquiring both Tucker and Williams would’ve left the Yankees still in search of infield help and now a “sixth starter” type of depth arm, but those are perhaps minor question marks compared to the upside of bringing both an All-Star outfielder and All-Star closer into the mix.
Gil is a known quantity to baseball fans, but the 19-year-old Lombard was the 26th overall pick of the 2023 draft. Baseball America and MLB Pipeline each rank Lombard as the third-best prospect in New York’s farm system, viewing him as a very solid all-around player with five-tool potential, even if he perhaps lacks a true plus-plus calling card. Lombard has played mostly shortstop in the minors and evaluators feel he can stick at the position, but he has also seen time at second and third base. Lombard’s approach and overall hitting potential are both considered good, though he hit only .231/.338/.334 over 497 combined plate appearances with A-level Tampa and high-A Hudson Valley in 2024.
Another factor is preference. The clubs could face each other in the AL postseason.
Cashman’s comments about 17 made it unlikely the Astros would help the Yankees. Add that to the fact that they could meet in October and it’s why I always believed Houston would use the Yanks offer to leverage more from another club. Perhaps that’s what they did telling Chicago about what they requested from NY.
It’s not really leverage when Cashman rejected the ask for Gil. I don’t agree with not trading with the Astros because they don’t even play in the same division. Worry about October when your team happens to make it there.
YBC – With most teams I’d agree, but 11 ALCS appearances in the past 8 seasons makes the odds of meeting in October far more likely.
@FPG I still don’t buy it. Is one going to avoid trading with five AL teams every season because they have a premonition of meeting each in October?
YBC – Think of it this way, how many trades between the Dodgers and any of the Mets, Braves or Phillies?
The Astros and Yankees are the only two teams at the top of the AL mountain. I think there’s merit to the notion neither team would want to trade one of their stars to the other team.
Do not gave rings because JUDGE
Add in Cashman’s recent gripes. Yes, Gil was supposedly turned down but it showed what Houston was looking for. As they didn’t get a Gil type, the Cubs may have still improved their offer.
If you can negotiate there is no such thing as leverage. You also don’t worry about who you are trading with because you are obviously winning the trade. It’s ideal to trade with and weaken your biggest competition.
Sign walker buehler
For what? We currently have six starters.
* adding it’s still early, another trade and signing could indeed happen, but we’ll see. Buehler isn’t a favorite though.
Buehler isn’t your favorite? We have six starters. But Cole missed time stroman should have missed time. Clarke missed time do you see a need yet
Not a fan, sorry. Could he make me one, ok sure, but don’t like his stuff or his attitude.
You can never have enough pitching depth. Especially when Clarke and Luis didn’t pitch full seasons. Rodon is also always an injury risk. Stroman can’t be depended on in the second half. Signing Walker Buehler seems like extra, but I bet he wouldn’t be.
Yeah I added an asterisk. I’d want to see Stroman traded first, then you can move Clarke to pen as a long man, though he’s good enough in the rotation too.
Also, Annihilus is so cool.
Annihilus probably is so cool. But I think he knows baseball
Why…you never have enough pitching and do you really want to rely on Stroman in a 5 man rotation?
I don’t want Stroman on the team period. He’ll be more of a headache in reserve, too, so clear him out and then we can get another. Clarke is better served as a swing guy, but I’d rather him in the rotation.
Happy to see Cortés leaving,,next must be Stroman and Rondón,,he is not consisten pitcher
I would like to see Rodon traded and Burnes signed along with Buehler
We need a 3B/2B, LFer, and/or 1B before we can grab another starter. Pitching and defense will not win a championship, but a complete team will.
don’t forget, jazz, clipper. He’s going to play one of those positions. We just don’t know which one yet.
Yeah, I should’ve written or in between each, which is what I meant. So, 3B or 2B, and LF and/or 1B. That may be even more confusing…lol.
It makes sense in my mind though. Haha.
spot on. he’s a natural second baseman, so he should play second. Not that the Yankees always do anything logical.
Plus, we can’t expect them to fill every position from outside the organization, it would go too much against their precious luxury tax. But I’m hoping for a first baseman hopefully Bellinger is available, and an outfielder at least.
As an O’s fan, I’m obviously happy that the Yankees did not land Tucker, but the downside is that it means they are much more likely to pony up the cash for Santander.
It’s ok. Rubenstein is sure to open up his wallet and start outbidding everyone here soon…….
He already has opened his wallet though.
Our projected 2025 payroll is already close to $30 million higher than our 2024 payroll with the trades Elias made at the deadline last year and his signings of O’Neill and Sanchez, and we’re still talking to top FA pitchers like Burnes and Flaherty, and with the Mariners about trading for Luis Castillo and his $25 million dollar salary.
Maybe pay attention instead of spamming an outdated narrative about previous owners who no longer get any say in running the franchise?
He replaced Santander with ONeill that’s a step back. He replaced Mccann with Sanchez that’s probably a step back or the same. Most importantly he hasn’t replaced Burnes. And at this point that’s probably not going to happen, at least with a top end pitcher.
You keep saying the new ownership is ready to spend. But that isn’t happening. Reports say the Orioles are worried about losing a draft pick. Lol come on. How many draft picks do you need?
The new ownership isn’t “ready to spend.”
They’re already spending.
I literally just explained it.
A contending team with young talent is always going to have a higher payroll than the year before it’s the nature of contending. What was he supposed to spend less than last year????
The current $30ish million increase in year-over-year payroll is mostly coming through outside additions (Eflin, O’Neill, Sanchez, etc.), and basically all of the pitchers we are currently reported to be pursuing (Burnes, Flaherty, Castillo) will cost north of $20 million a year.
Your narrative is outdated, get a new one.
A 30 million dollar increase and the team is worse than it was last year. You don’t seem to understand how this works.
You think Burnes is coming back?
You actually want Flaherty back?
A $30 million increase already and they’re still pursuing guys who will cost north of $20 million a year.
Your narrative is outdated, get a new one.
If the Orioles sign Burnes great. But they won’t. And then what? Flaherty is a flake. Castillo isn’t that good and costs a lot i doubt they go get him.
We will see what happens.
Cool goalpost shift, bro.
“They won’t spend!”
“Okay, maybe they are spending, but they aren’t spending the way I think they should!”
This is why I no longer take you seriously lol.
Dude you have said all offseason the new owner is going to spend and the team is ready to be a legit contender.
Is the team better or worse today than it was when the season ended?
Oh crap, the offseason is already over? My family is going to be soooo pissed at me for missing Christmas and New Year’s!
Yet another clown take, well done.
Oh, and are the Yankees better now than they were when the season ended? The answer is obvious, but I’m sure you’ll just come up with some silly reasoning to say that they are that contradicts objective reality to suit your preferred narrative.
Maybe spending “more”, but is that enough? More than what, for example? Where were they in comparison to last year? I honestly don’t remember, so just pointing out the comparative analysis does not always clarify things.
Maybe you’ll get nasty to me too–but jeez, why are folks on here so rude to each other? The guy makes a comment and your immediate response is “maybe pay attention instead of spamming…”. Calm down. Maybe answer–or try to answer–the question instead of being nasty. But I know that is the first thing folks do on the internets…easy to be rude when you don’t have to be held accountable.
I’m being “nasty” to BITA because he has earned it over the course of many interactions over many months, whereas there’s no history between you and I as far as I know, so I have no reason to be hostile towards you.
The moves that have already been made and the moves that are reportedly being considered would come out to a 50% or more increase in payroll in just one year, which I think is firmly within the acceptable range considering the context of the current quality of the team and the holes that needed to be filled.
The Yankees won the pennant, then got curbstomped in the World Series, then lost Juan Soto to another team in the same city, and are now a worse team overall than they were on the last day of the 2024 season.
Those are the facts.
If the current state of the Orioles is fair game, when the offseason is less than half over, then so is the current state of the Yankees.
Flock is an Orioles fan and he’s very defensive about how much money his team spends.
If you can’t talk to someone without being a tool then don’t talk to them
You can’t even be bothered to spell my name correctly when it’s right there on the screen in front of you, no wonder you are so consistently incorrect about so many things.
And I frankly do not care about how much Rubenstein does or doesn’t spend, I’m simply correcting you for posting things that are objectively, provably wrong.
It’s called autocorrect dipstick. If you are offended by someone misspelling your fake name you have issues.
Assuming that is actually true, which seems improbable since you’ve done it over and over and over again (this is simply the first time I’ve actually pointed it out) over a long period of time, “I can’t even be bothered to proofread” isn’t really a great look either.
And I don’t care in the slightest if you call me Bubba McDoodoohead as long as you’re not posting BS that is objectively untrue, like “Mayo is blocked so he needs to be traded” and “the Orioles don’t ever spend.”
Have a nice day
And you as well.
The Yankees are still worse than they were on the last day of the season, when the Dodgers finished humiliating them in the World Series.
Sorry bro, I’m just not that stressed about the Yankees finishing runner-up (in both the WS and Soto sweepstakes).
Trolling aside, I was genuinely terrified that Yankees would re-sign Soto, but I forgot that they’re New York’s B team nowadays.
Should wish they got Tucker. Would remove Gil out of their rotation for 5 years. Wish they get Santander as well vs a much cheaper almost as good outfielder that doesn’t take draft picks away from them.
I doubt that. The Yankees dropped about $50 mil in payroll but have already added $32 mil in fried + Williams. They can sign one more legit player at 20 or so without upping the payroll considerably (as Steinbrenner has complained about $ a lot the past year +). That $ is going to Walker or Alonso before Santander. And it’s highly unlikely they add a second such player even if increasing payroll bc they still need more work around the edges.
So if they had resigned Soto that would have not bode well for bringing in additional players.
@Perksy
I don’t think so. still have to replace Rizzo, Verdugo and Torres.
They can add as much as Hal allows Cashman to add, and Hal desperately needs to save at least some face after losing a future HOF and a top 5 current player to their crosstown rival.
If they want both Santander and Walker, they can easily afford both.
Funny how the Sox trade superstar Betts because they by don’t expect to sign him for lucrative money, trade him for a meh mlb player and a couple meh prospects and get lambasted by fans and media for years.
Astros trade superstar Tucker because they don’t expect to resign him for lucrative money for a meh mlb player and a couple meh prospects and are lauded as a genius forward thinking organization.
Mookie and Tucker aren’t the same players. Betts was an MVP and critical to the ’18 WS championship team. Also a wildy popular household name.
Astros didn’t force David Price on them. Tucker much lower salary than Mookie. Smith better prospect than Jeter. Verdugo isn’t for everyone. And trades pretty split. But Cubs won it. It works for Houston though as Paredes is perfect for their park.
Verdugo had a 2.3 WAR at the time of the deal
Paredes has a 9.7 WAR at the time of the deal
gonna have to disagree that these guys value is exactly the same at the time of the deals.
The trade is almost baffling. One year of Tucker for three years of Paredes, plus one very promising prospect and one interesting prospect? It’s the perfect ‘look busy’ trade.
Not an Astros fan but Cam Smith is not a “meh” prospect. He’s a top 100 prospect who grades out as a future all-star ( insert obvious caveat about prospects being suspects…).
“…who grades out as a future all-star.”
There’s zero chance after 134 PA in pro ball at 21, as a corner guy, that this is his median projection. Zero. None. .
In fact, I’d say they got a pretty nice haul for a rental. Even a rental as good as Tucker is.
yeah i feel this deal for tucker gave back a better return then for mookies trade
When the centerpiece of a deal for a 4-5 WAR RFer is a 3-4 WAR player with 3 years left of team control, you’re damned right it is.
Tuckers only 4 war if he is hurt for large amount of time. Paredes only 4 war in Houston with that short left field.
Smith >>> Lombard, Jr.
But Gil would have been better than anyone that came back in the Cubs trade.
Gil isn’t all that good.
@Bita
Good enough to win ROY. He just needs to cut down on his walks.
One of the weakest rookie of the year votes in years. He was ok nothing special.
Lol
KFCF, all you had to say was ROY, and that’s that. The Yankees trolls gonna troll and say everyone in our system sucks and yet we’re constantly flipping them or graduating some the gems.
ROY means a lot more to other GMs than than fans. Hence, the 2-1 that the Astros asked for vs. the 3-1.
Well, that shows what I think of the return from the Cubs. Though Smith has legitimate upside.
I think the trade was fair. But the Astros took a huge step back. And the Cubs were supposed to be trading an outfielder not trading for one. I like it more for the Cubs at least I understand what they are doing.
Gil is not all that bad either. But he is good enough not to trade for 1 year of Kyle Tucker. Especially after the Juan Soto deal I would say if Tucker would have signed an extension the Yankees would have made that trade
Gil a #2 if they get his walks down. I imagine Houston would have done it just for him alone if they thought they could improve him.
IN the Cub fans eyes….yes….
league consensus too. except gil wouldve been the better piece and thus better offer if the yankees dealt him.
Huh? Smith and Lombard are comparable? One 21 yr old hit 1.000 Ops up to AA, the other barely .600. Sorry, one has value, oner has not.
@Saj
Odd thing to say since the Astro asks for him. Get past prospect lists. Scouts don’t go by them.
Lombard can run and is a plus defender. No doubt can stick on dirt maybe even at ss. Younger and still projectible. At worst they are similar tier prospects.
600 ops in minors up to AA does not project, no matter how fast, no matter how slick his glove. if he sticks on dirt, it will be milb dirt til he hits.
His body projects.
Geez if that’s all it took for Tucker i think the Yankees messed up. Gilbert isn’t all that great and they have plenty of pitching.
Yes, 26 year old starting pitchers that just won the ROY are usually terrible. Nevermind the nearly unhittable repertoire and the ace potential. Yeah, just terrible.
He had a 4.14 FIP
That’s Kyle Gibson territory
xFIP was even lower at 4.36, Sierra at 4.22, xERA at 3.83
Not a bad pitcher or anything, but ace potential?
You don’t think he has ace potential because you only look at meaningless algebraic stats instead of actually watching him pitch.
The only thing that will prevent Gil from becoming a top-of-the-rotation arm are injuries or his inability to improve his command. If he can cut down his walk rate, he will be a star.
BITA: Again…lol
So if he stops being bad he will be good?
So you are saying he can’t improve? His rookie season is as good as it gets?
Of course a rookie can improve, but according to the metrics he’s also facing regression, so would take quite a bit of improvement (or continuing luck) to improve on his numbers this year, numbers which don’t make him an ace
“luck” hahaha typical anal-ytics drivel.
If a player has a bad year, it was because of “bad luck.” If he has a good year, it was because of “good luck.”
Congratulations on learning and parroting the vernacular.
His BABIP was .237
If you want to bet on a guy who will be 27 shortly after the start of the season making some kind of jump from his current numbers (which the Yanks would kill for a repeat of, for the record), to an ace …. then I’d Love the chance to make some bets with you
All comes down to walks. 4.7 or whatever it was isn’t sustainable. Since they didn’t trade him it probably means they feel they can improve it. He has the stuff though. If not he can go to pen and be a closer.
“BABIP”
No, you’re right, he’ll just grit & will his way into being an ace, silly me
Maybe, just maybe, his BABIP was .237 because he’s got great stuff. But no, it’s just because he was lucky, right? BABIP, which doesn’t include HRs, because HRs aren’t balls put into play lol
Hey, If you wanna consider 100 starters aces, then you’re certainly welcome to cause I’m sure back in your day there were 100 aces and the world was better for it since everyone knew that judging pitchers off ERA & W-L was all it really took to know talent cause math be hard
No, in my day, we judged pitchers on how well they kept their teams in a game and gave them a chance to win.
One of my favorite pitchers to watch was Jimmy Key. Anal-ytics wouldn’t have loved him, but he knew how to locate and change speeds and all he did was win, or give his team a chance to win.
You mathletes think the game is a real life fantasy baseball league and are wrong as often as anybody else. But keep believing you’re smarter than everybody else. It’s entertaining.
Btw, I never said anywhere on this site that Gil was an ace. I said he has the POTENTIAL to be an ace. Big difference. And the Yankees – a very analytically driven organization – seem to agree with me.
@YourDream – Good point. The Yankees probably feel he will improve because he is coming off TJ surgery. Players usually perform better in terms of control & velo the further out they get from their surgery.
Or they value 5 years of a middle rotation arm and another spect over 1 year of Tucker, considering they have other holes to fill. Nobody views Gil as a potential ace outside of you & his mom
And the Astros and the Yankees brain trust. Now run along and go get ready for school tomorrow
No need to worry about his babip. He isn’t pitching to contact. His game is strike outs. As is he is back rotation might have to move to back of pen. But if he takes his walk rate to 3 something he is mid. 2 something moves to front. Either control improves or you get a nasty pen arm. Astros wanted him. Yankees didn’t want to part with him for a elite player. They know him much better than I do. He’s a valuable player no matter what his babip says.
Lol at “watching him pitch” Have you watched all 150 starters in the MLB a ton to be able to compare him to that? How do you know there aren’t 50 guys who look potentially better when you “watch them pitch”
29 other teams in the league. Not everything has to be about the Yankees. Or should it be where you tell us about their pursuit of Spencer Horwitz or Andres Gimenez or Jeffrey Springs as well?! Why stop at one guy who got traded that they didn’t get?! Completely beat fans of other teams over the head with the full Yankees offseason. Enough already!!!
@01
Last I checked there were plenty of articles about 29 other teams bro.
He’s dead right.
Yankees actually make moves and try to win unlike your loser team. Moves gets reported. When your team picks up whatever leftover scraps NY LA didn’t want it will be reported.
Did the Yankees get Tucker? Maybe I missed that. I never said there was anything wrong with reporting actual moves. Do we need to also know what Judge had for dinner? Or where Gerrit Cole is spending Christmas? Stop already with the inundation of a team who doesn’t win WS championships!
That’s right.
Somethings…are about the Dodgers and/or the Mets.
Kyle Tucker is one of the best players in the league and Luis Gil was ROY. That trade would have been big(ger) news than the one made. Folks are talking about it, it brings in traffic. This website is built on traffic. You write the articles that’ll get the clicks. Not very hard to understand.
There are a thousand Yankees fans for every one small market fan.
MLBTR knows how to cater to its advertisers. who want a large target of viewers and Yankee or Dodger articles draw them,
It is just business.
Given that the article as written was about the Yankees pursuit of Tucker….totally and intentional NOT about the other 29 teams in the league……aren’t there enough other articles that tickle your fancy on this site….then write to Steve and complain but you’re missing the point complaining about a Yankee bias on this site…..
Yeah, I really wonder why they write so many articles about the two most popular, successful, and well-known teams. Real mystery, that one.
Emmanuel Valdez got traded by the Red Sox to the Pirates. I think they need to write another article on how close the Yankees were to getting Valdez, considering they need a 2B. That way all of the Yankees fans can feel good about the popularity of their team that still won’t win the WS.
I’m sure you wouldn’t do the best for your investors if you owned a business
No comparison between Smith and Lombard. Looks like an easy decision.
But Gil over the other two, but the Yanks pulled out, not the other way.
Lombard a plus defender who can run vs a dh who you have to hide somewhere. Agree no comparison.
I prefer the package the Stros landed on. Gil is a 2 pitch guy who wore down at the end of year.
Paredes gives you an immediate starter at 3B & Cam Smith has a much higher upside than Lombard. Throw in a potential back end guy like Wesneski and I prefer that package.
Perfect example of how a team can have a player, devoid of being on any high prospect list rating, but still highly desirable to mlb teams. As for Gil, I’m so glad they passed. Trading him almost negates the purpose of acquiring Fried. It also could’ve made acquiring Williams more difficult because they may not have wanted to trade both Gil and Cortez.
Do you tell yourself bed time stories?
Your world seems like the fantasies in your mind.
Only because these websites don’t have anyone who can properly evaluate players. Lombard is already on my top 100. Been there since drafted. Draft steal. Baring something drastic he will be appearing on top 100 list in the next year or two.
It wouldn’t have negated it because the offseason isn’t done. They weren’t going to delete Gil and not replace him.
@Sal
Which costs millions for another FA that’s capable of winning 16 games or using a bunch of prospects. Tucker isn’t worth it for 1 year.
We’ll never know now, but there’s aspects to his game that are better than Soto’s who got us to the WS.
Pretty sure nobody was more surprised to be traded than Cam Smith. Except maybe me. Nah not me because I always had faith Hoyer would do the wrong thing.
Tucker is one of the best players in baseball. Smith is a prospect. Try to enjoy the ride man. This gives the Cubs a real shot in 2025.
Shot at what? They’re not a WS team at all. And they only have him for one year. Watch them trade him at the deadline because they have no shot at re signing him.
The Yankees didn’t want to include Lombard, makes me think the Yankees are not that high on Volpe or Arias anymore. Is Lombard the Future SS or possibly 2B if they traded Durbin. I would have offered Pereira, Pereza, and Warren. Maybe those 3 are enough to get Bellinger now. Only time will tell.
They didn’t want to trade Gil. The inclusion of Lombard, Jr. isn’t that big of a factor.
I think they didn’t want to make a trade of a ROY pitcher who’s controllable for quite some time and a top prospect for Tucker who will obviously test the free agent marketplace and place the Yankees in competition with the other clubs….did that already with Soto and came up against a very, very motivated owner in Cohen….no telling what motivated owner might appear going into the 26 season…….don’t think that they’re unhappy with Volpe at SS and whether or not Lombard surfaces in the Yankee infields
The Yanks do not need to trade much to get Bellinger. They could have had him for nothing at the deadline. Seriously?
But still had Rizzo at 1B and Cubs have an opening at 1B is Buech is at 3B.
With the QO pick they can get a player almost as good as Smith. Maybe even as good. Smith with was a safe pick. They could go HS and upside and get something that can be better. But at very least almost as good.
Smith was thought to be a steal where he was picked and has since performed well in the minors. He’s more valuable than a comp pick for sure.
They can do almost as good close enough. Have to go young upside and save a lil $ elsewhere but it can be done.
Aloha uncle I too was so surprised. Not for trading for Tucker but trading our current 3rd baseman then our future 3rd baseman with a high ceiling just drafted this year. Hoyer is terrible at making big deals as he hadn’t done much like this over the 4yrs. Once the Yankees said they weren’t going to trade Gil, Jed should have understood the opportunity. The Astros pursued Paredes this past July and lost to our Cubs. They don’t want to pay Bregman what he is wanting in order to stay. Jed should have say Paredes and for example 2 out this list: Alcantara/Rojas/Triantos and Wesneski and play the waiting game. He gave up so much for a rental. As Cub fans we know Ricketts won’t pay $400-500mil to retain Tucker, so if they don’t get far in the upcoming post season, it’s for not. Well, Jed’s not done, he may trade away more young talent for another starter, bat closer who knows. BTW I’m not against trading talent/prospects, again this is for a rental and it’s not like our 2015 Cubs that were closer to a championship. We’ll see how the 2025 season goes. It’s time for Hoyer to move on. Mahalo
At least one person gets it. Ricketts has absolutely no desire to play in the 400 million dollar range so trading for a guy with one year left on his deal who is heading there is the last flailing gasp of a guy who is on his way out the door. I hope. Just have no desire to see him wreck a good thing on his way out the door.
They are going to make the playoffs this year, without depth and without any long term plan, ricketts will extend hoyer because they still fill most of the seats without any long term high end contracts and they will be perfectly average and ricketts wont care. after you get past, that you can enjoy seeing tucker play for a year because last years team was so boring and hes a superstar. if not, youll just be miserable year after year the cubs cant develop talent and have a team full of AAAA guys with low ceiling high floor guys. hoyer has got to go, ricketts needs to show better leadership because he isnt going anywhere… with that being said – if he signs tucker to an extension, trades or signs a big SP and gets a legit closer. my faith in him would have completely changed but that aint happening.
i love how you think Hoyer is filling up the seats. Like it wouldn’t happen without him. Wow
thats what you got out of all that?? lmao – you misunderstood that tiny piece. i said they were filling up seats, not because of hoyer. therefore ownership wont change anything because they dont have to
I assumed they just traded for 1 year rental. Get the draft pick and see you later. See if he wants extension if not probably gone in free agency.
You said and I quote they will re sign Hoyer because they fill up the seats anyway, End quote. What does rehiring Hoyer have to do with that? His deal is up after this year. They can fire him easier than re signing him. It wouldn’t cost them a dime to lose him. So you saying they’ll keep him doesn’t hold the statement.
and even after i responded you still are unhinged and cant read. hooked on phonics huh
Smith may not stick at 3b. May not stick in outfield. Houston is ideal outfield for him.
Yeah well for years I’ve been hearing Cubs fans whine because they had no power bats and or RBI guys. Here you have one and Hoyer couldn’t wait to ship him out of town. No GM in his right mind in today’s MLB would trade 7 years of control of a stud prospect for a 1 year rental. Much less toss 2 more guys into the deal. Well there is one and we know who it is don’t we? If I was Dana Brown I’d call Hoyer twice a day.
If the Yankees had a real chance to get Tucker they should have done it. No other available bat has his potential. The lineup needs 3 bats, maybe even 4. I like Gil but I think his value is at its peak and the team needs a #2/3 type hitter really badly.
However, if the Yankees thought they wouldn’t be able to extend him, I can forgive it a little easier, it’d suck to see him go in FA, though I don’t expect daddy Cohen to be willing to pay any number like he did for Soto.
Depressing to see they could have had him tho.
Tucker has already said he’s going to test free agency. The Astros didn’t even bother to make him an extension offer.
Good no trade. Gil with improved control is #2. Lombard is top 100 prospect. I would have given NY a F
Of course they wouldn’t be able to extend him…modern top of the field athletes can only determine their actual value by going Free Agent and seeing what offers they get….the art of extention contracts in walk years are a thing of the past for the top guys….only for those guys in the middle to lower tier of the league…
Yanks still do NOT have a qualified “bopper bat” to hit around Judge! That is a top
Need in order to win a WS ring! What are they waiting for? Cashman, this is your last chance in ‘25.
Still 3-4 top bats available…..and Cashman has issues at 3rd, 1st, and LF to figure out……don’t panic……
Stanton for a portion of the season.
@Yankee
Bro you can only make an offer. Other than Soto there aren’t any big bats of the FA market that have signed. Relax.
“higher regarded?” It’s “more highly regarded.”
Why trade with a team you could meet in the playoffs. Plus the Yankees have blown through their top prospects and cupboard is becoming a little bare. And they will continue their drought of championships.
To get a #2 starter for 5 years and your starting ss for 7 years.
Tbh, they should have done it. 2-1, even if it’s Gil, for Tucker was easy. There’s plenty of SP out there still you can sign. I’m still glad to have Gil, but no way would have I said no.
Would have been awful for ny
Not from where I’m standing. Gil is much more replaceable than Soto. Tucker would have done that.
Another worthless piece of crap “story.”
The Yanks were going to have to overpay to get the Astros to trade a star to them.
Besides, the Astros needed to get a better than average MLB ready, or better yet, established, position player in the deal.
Gil has much more value than Paredes over the next 3-5 years but not nearly as good of a fit.
Beg to differ…not overselling Gil, but saying that a potential 2-3 rotation guy doesn’t have the same value as Paredes, a .230 ish hitter, regardless of his recent HR and RBI success (and by the way this guy is pretty far from a Gold Glove at 3rd) is a bit short sided….pitching wins in the playoffs as visioned by the last WS where the Dodgers kept trotting out pitching to snuff out Yankee at bats…..
I actually said Gil has more value but is not as good a fit (as the Astros have 5 healthy and 3 injured SP but no corner infielders)
It would have been devastating to Yankee fans to trade for a star in back to back seasons and see them both walk. Probably not a good game plan for them to keep going down that route. Sometimes it’s better to not get what you want at the moment.
True….the modern top tier MLB players are all going to test free agency to determine their true value and not ever sign extentions before doing that……
Yankees fans need to be trained then.
If the Yankee had gone after and signed Corbin Burnes, they would have the best rotation in the majors and be able to afford to give up Gil in exchage for Tucker or another power hitter. It would still leave their financial expenditures less than they were willing to give up for Soto.
They can keep Gil and just sign Tucker next year. No need to trade for 1 year. Lombard is their best prospect. Dominguez will be off list and they don’t want to trade him.
Would love to have Tucker, probably a top 3-5 player in the league, But trading him for Gil would be a tough choice, I grew up a Yankees fan due to now having a team in Texas, Other than the Astros, and I’d never root for that. As for the Yankees, SMART MOVE, unless he Tucker signs an extension the Yankees can go for him next season, as well as my Rangers. But Gil was good last and hopefully only gets better.
(Not )having a Texas team other that the Astros ,
Still makes no sense.
Yankees weren’t going to give up a better package for Tucker than they gave up for Soto
So here’s the big difference between both packages
Smith is a prospect who will potentially be moved off of third and okey first or DH or maybe corner outfield. He’s a prospect with a nice bat but lots of questions regarding where he fits.
Lombard is a SS or a third baseman. More valuable positions and will not move off of those positions. He’s also a prospect. Please don’t use BA lists as the all knowing because it’s much more wrong than right. Teams and scouts don’t go off BA lists. The Yanks key highly regarded Lombard and from what I read they do.
Now add in Gil who pitched for much of the season as the ace and is young and just won ROY.
That means allot.
Is any team trading a young front line starter for a mehhhh bullpen arm and Paredes who was bad in Wrigley???
I doubt that very much so to compare the two offered is showing Yankee bias.
Tucker is a Cubbie and good for them. Now the cubs want more for Bellinger than they did a week ago and the yanks should life away from him and look at Leo the 26yo Korean kid with speed, defense, and high contact left handed bat. Leave Jazz at third and sign Walker.
Wait for the deadline to add another left handed bat and maybe sign one more starter and move Stroman off the roster.
Well reasoned post. Moving Stroman won’t be easy, he’s not a bargain. And your comments regarding prospect lists being something for fans to cling to as fact really needs to be understood by so many fans. If it was that simple, hell, many of us could be general managers!
Yankees have a small window. Cole and judge have 2 premium years left. Hopefully
When you spend 300 million you don’t have windows.
oh man i would have made that deal in a second. tucker in yankee stadium is a 6 war player. i guess the good news is they are really high on gil despite him having 1 spectacular month and a bunch of bad ones
dont care where he is on a list, he shows he cant hit. no support that he was asked for, he is just a lottery ticket throw in, some last second grease to lubricate a trade. the other looks like mlb
I prefer the cubs deal over the Yankees deal.
Gil is a good starter but astros need lineup help more than starting pitching.
I think the paredes deal was good for both sides. Parades was clearly not working, he has a very specific skillset with elite plate discipline but well below average batted ball quality who makes it work by pulling the right pitches down the line in the air.
In Chicago that was not working, he needs a short porch like in Tampa or in Houston.
Trading Gil for ONE YEAR of Tucker (ASSUMING Gil stays reasonably healthy, a big IF) is the kind of thing that George did for years. And although it’s the same mindset that was used in the Soto trade doubling down on that strategy in consecutive years is a foolish tactic. That being said Cashman needs to get his boss to open up the bank or we will be lucky to win eighty games. No need to make a any stupid moves, but moves must be made soon. One other thing, Cashman needs to get over trying to be the smartest man in the room because he’s not. He can’t seem to get past the idea that he will win every transaction.