There are so many player transactions during the offseason. In particular, the Cubs front office is quite busy this winter. In mid-December, the Cubs and the Astros agreed to make a deal.
In the trade, the Cubs acquired Kyle Tucker from the Astros. At the same time, the Astros got Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski and Cam Smith.
Kyle Tucker is a 3-time All-Star, a Gold Glove award winner and a Silver Slugger award winner. Moreover, he helped the Astros win the World Series title in 2022. Tucker made his MLB debut on July 7, 2018. So far in his career, he played 633 games, hitting .274/.353/.516 with 125 home runs and 417 RBI. His OPS is over .860.
Without doubt, Tucker is a star player. However, will he shine in the Cubs uniform? Let’s quickly take a look at his performance at Wrigley Field first. Tucker played 3 games at Wrigley Field by far in his career. He collected 4 hits and has a batting average over .360 at this ballpark. Well, in a small sample size, it seems that he did hit well at this ballpark.
In addition, against teams in the NL, Kyle Tucker slashed .283/.365/.531 with 23 home runs and 85 RBI thus far in his career. Last season, he played 19 games against NL opponents, hitting .355/.474/.661 with 5 home runs and 13 RBI. Hence, Kyle Tucker probably won’t need much time to adjust.
And now, let’s see the players that were acquired by the Astros. Isaac Paredes played for the Rays and the Cubs in 2024. He slashed .238/.346/.393 with 19 home runs and 80 RBI in 153 games. However, a key thing worth noting is that his OPS was .792 with the Rays but his OPS dropped to .632 while playing for the Cubs. He didn’t hit well in the Cubs uniform. Nonetheless, can he do a better job in Houston? Parades played 5 games at Daikin Park (Minute Maid Park), hitting .133/.381/.533 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI. He only collected 2 hits at this ballpark and both were home runs. It will be very interesting to see Paredes’ performance at his new home.
Finally, Hayden Wesneski made 7 starts and 21 relief appearances for the Cubs in 2024. He owned a 3.86 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP over 67.2 innings. Wesneski made his MLB debut in 2022. However, he hasn’t pitched any games at Daikin Park so far in his career. And Cam Smith is a top prospect.
Looking at the trade between the Cubs and the Astros, Kyle Tucker looks a good fit for the Cubs. Nonetheless, he played only 78 games in 2024 because of an injury. A key thing is about his health. For the Astros, there are several things worth monitoring. Isaac Paredes didn’t hit well with the Cubs. Nonetheless, he knows how to crush home runs at Daikin Park. In the 2025 season, let’s see how many home runs he will hit at his new home. In the meantime, Hayden Wesneski missed some time due to injury setbacks in 2024. What will be the best role for him in 2025? Also, with a top prospect involved in the trade, it will be worth watching when Cam Smith will make it into the big leagues.
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