KYLE TUCKER IS OFFICIALLY A CHICAGO CUB

Maybe the biggest Cubs trade since Nomar came over in 2004 and even entertaining that topic is kinda blasphemous as a Cubs fan. So let’s just stay on Kyle Tucker here before I categorically erupt from excitement. 

No bullshit - Kyle Tucker is a top 10 player in baseball. Last year in 50% of playing time he accumulated 4.7bWAR. He runs the bases extremely well. He plays gold glove defense and shits on good fastballs while being one of the biggest fan favorites across the game. But for the Astros being a shady organization, there’s absolutely no sane or rational world where Kyle Tucker gets traded. 

Unfortunately for Astros fans and much to my benefit, the Cubs were able to pull this deal off without giving up too much in the immediate future. Isaac Paredes is a fine ballplayer but was basically 1:1 with Christopher Morel just 5 months ago. Hayden Wesneski is a your classic glue guy long reliever/spot starter that the Cubs got for set-up man Scott Effross. And Cam Smith was banging FSU co-Ed’s a couple months ago. He’s going to be a stud but right now that doesn’t matter if he’s not ready. The reality is that Kyle Tucker for one year is worth the cost under the circumstances Tom Ricketts has given us. That’s the most important part.

The Cubs don’t act like a big market team any more. Tom Ricketts doesn’t get aggressive because he’s afraid. So Jed has to take bold action on his own which brings us to building a farm system with 8 top 100 names. It brings us to insanely good drafting and thorough run prevention systems. It brings us solid starting pitching and really solid young ball players like Busch and PCA and Matt Shaw (hopefully). It brings us Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ and all that nice bullshit. 

However it leaves us void of superstar talent because that shit’s expensive. In my judgment we had maybe 2-3 full seasons of it under Theo and then one day it was gone. Jason Heyward certainly sucked the life out of free agency but to the extent that we would sit out almost every non Dansby negotiation for the better part of a decade? My fuckin butt cheeks. What a terrible development to endure before and after COVID - all while being force fed the same bullshit talking points from leadership. 

Meanwhile no playoff wins in 7 years. Ticket prices through the goddamn roof. Irish Oak is closed and nothings getting more convenient or fun on Clark street. And even that’s being generous to the futility and general shittyness we’ve been served for years now. It’s been nothing short of downright unacceptable from Cubs leadership. 

So with that in mind, I’m totally okay with renting out one of baseballs best players because it’s an opportunity to remind those in charge that it’s worth the cost. It’s worth the money to have the best players and the best product on the field. There’s a substantial difference between a crowded Wrigley and a rocking Wrigley because the Cubs are on first place by 8 games in late June. And since we’ve been so far from that, I think it’s been much easier for leadership to lolly gag their way into another convention. 

So even if it’s a wild risk in the long run. Even if cam smith is awesome and Kyle Tucker goes to New York next year and blah blah blah. Even if the worst stuff happens down the road for those involved in the trade… the important thing is that right now the Cubs are in their best position in years to win the division. They can bring this back to life and we can get back to awesome baseball. We just need to show Tom that it’s worth the money so he stops being a gigantic pussy at every turn. 

Now if you excuse me I’m gonna have a couple beers thank you.