The Chicago Cubs traded away top prospect Owen Caissie on Wednesday.
An outfielder, Caissie was the centerpiece going to the Miami Marlins in a win-now trade for starting pitcher Edward Cabrera.
And, well, MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince is wondering if this could somehow change everything in Kyle Tucker's free agency.
The Cubs were generally thought to be out on Tucker this offseason after his lone season in Chicago.
But now, the Cubs may have an outfield vacancy, and they've also shown they are trying to build a winning team right now.
"The departure of Caissie's potential 2026 upside only increases the already-existent incentive for the Cubs, who have stayed away from top-of-the-market contracts of late, to act like the big-market ballclub they are and land one of the available impact bats," Castrovince writes. "For much of the offseason, there has been an assumption that Kyle Tucker will wind up elsewhere. Does Caissie’s inclusion in the Cabrera trade change that equation, especially if Tucker winds up available on a shorter-term, higher-AAV deal?"
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The longer Tucker's free agency drags on, the more potential for something unusual to happen.
You'd assume that if Tucker had already gotten the offer he wanted, a long-term deal for huge money, he would've taken it.
So maybe that opens the door for a team like the Cubs, who wouldn't have wanted to give him 10 years but may give him three expensive seasons.
Stay tuned, because Chicago may not be done.
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