The losers in the Juan Soto sweepstakes might have quite the good fallback — and likely much more cost-efficient — option now available.
The Astros are willing to listen to trade offers for superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker, along with pitcher Framber Valdez, with just one year left on both of their contracts, according to Astros GM Dana Brown.
“You would listen on all the players. I don’t think you would turn a deaf ear to any of these guys,” Brown told reporters Monday during MLB’s winter meetings in Dallas. “The big thing is if you have an opportunity to make the club better that you would at least listen to other clubs and see if there’s something that makes sense for the club in the present and long term.”
The Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Dodgers each fell short in the Soto sweepstakes, with the Mets winning with their $765 million contract that can reach $805 million, and those teams are now onto their secondary plans for building their best rosters for 2025.
Those secondary plans may have included waiting to make a bid for Tucker — another lefty slugger — next winter, but he’s ironically now in the same situation as Soto last year.
The Astros, like the Padres before them, likely have a strong idea of whether Tucker will re-sign or hit free agency and Brown’s comments indicate the Astros are nervous about losing their star.
The Padres traded Soto to the Yankees last season and received Michael King and prospect Drew Thorpe as part of a package that vastly exceeds the draft pick compensation San Diego would have received.
Any team interested in Tucker would then have a year to sell him on signing a long-term deal and hope he doesn’t follow Soto’s lead and just focus on free agency.
Tucker, 27, would be quite the consolation prize.
The outfielder produced a .993 OPS this year spanning 78 games and is just one season removed from a 29-homer, 30-steal season.
The former No. 5 pick in the 2015 MLB Draft owns a career .274/.353/.516 slashline with an .870 OPS, and has averaged 28 homers over the last four seasons.
There’s certainly an argument to be made that Tucker, even if he receives $500 million, is a better investment than Soto due to the lesser financial commitment and his speed-power capabilities.
Valdez also is a strong trade chip since he’s coming off a fantastic 15-7 season with a 2.91 ERA that placed him seventh in the American League Cy Young race.
He’s 68-41 with 3.30 ERA in his career and has started at least 22 games in four straight seasons, while finishing in the top 10 in Cy Young voting in three straight seasons.
The Astros are facing a critical moment in their juncture with star Alex Bregman a free agent and the possibility looming that several key players may be on their way out.
