It's hard not to look ahead to the Chicago Cubs' biggest challenge after the season, even as they're having a great year on the field.
Kyle Tucker has been a godsend for the Cubs' lineup. Not only is he putting up borderline Most Valuable Player stats himself, but he's making everyone around him better, with Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch, and Seiya Suzuki serving as evidence.
But Tucker is headed to free agency, barring an unexpected 11th-hour extension. Chicago only got him seven months ago in a trade from the Houston Astros, and they gave up a very steep package to do so.
So given how paramount as it is for the Cubs to keep Tucker, anything the superstar says to indicate his thoughts on that impending free agency constitutes major news.
But this week at the All-Star Game, Tucker seems determined not to tip his hand
“We’ll see how that all turns out,” Tucker said on Monday, per Robert Murray of FanSided. “It’s been really fun. The All-Star break, had a good first half and we’re leading the division right now, although I know it’s pretty close.”
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“Right now, I’m just trying to enjoy the All-Star Game, get through this week, and we’ll see what happens.”
The 28-year-old Tucker has a .280/.384/.498 slugging percentage so far this season, with 17 home runs, 22 stolen bases, and 4.0 bWAR. The headliner of the free agent class, Tucker appears poised to clear $500 million on his next contract, possibly even challenging the $600 million threshold.
That's not great news at first glance for the Cubs, whose biggest contract ever remains the $184 million they gave Jason Heyward before the 2016 season. But Tucker has been so good and so impactful that they have to be ready to offer him the world.
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