Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer maintained his stance on keeping contract negotiations out of the public sphere.
But on Tuesday he acknowledged the obvious: “At some point” the Cubs will talk with three-time All-Star Kyle Tucker’s agent Casey Close about a possible extension.
“But ultimately, you have to go into that negotiation with a value [in mind],” Hoyer said before the Cubs’ 5-2 victory against the Guardians. “I think that you have to do that with any negotiation.”
Hoyer has said since trading for Tucker this offseason that the three-time All-Star is “a player you want to have for a long time.”
“He’s been one of the best players in baseball this year, and he does so many things well, and I think he’s really had a significant impact on this offense,” Hoyer said. “Certainly you want to keep a player like that. You go into the negotiation wanting to keep him. But obviously you realize, at some point you must have your limits. Obviously we’ll keep all those things internal.”
Cubs beat Guardians
After left-hander Matthew Boyd signed with the Cubs this offseason, he called Guardians manager Steven Vogt to tell him how grateful he was for his brief time with the club that took a chance on him coming back from Tommy John surgery.
“I have so much respect for those guys, so much gratitude for the Cleveland organization,” Boyd said after the Cubs beat the Guardians. “They gave me a shot. And they not only gave me a shot, but they even gave me the ball in the playoffs last year three times.”
Going up against the Guardians for the first time since then, Boyd held his former club to two runs in seven innings. The performance extended his streak to seven straight starts with two or fewer runs allowed.
Cubs relievers Brad Keller and Daniel Palencia each turned in a scoreless inning to finish the game. The bullpen has been on a tear, allowing just one run on the Cubs’ seven-game road trip to St. Louis and Houston (25⅓ innings).
The Cubs’ biggest rally Tuesday came in the second inning. They scored three runs on four consecutive base hits from Pete Crow-Armstrong, Dansby Swanson, Michael Busch and Carson Kelly.
But the rally came to a grinding halt as Kelly was thrown out trying to score on a potential wild pitch, and both Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw were picked off first base after drawing walks.
Seiya Suzuki added insurance in the sixth with a solo homer, his team-leading 23rd long ball of the season. In the eighth, Kelly hit a sacrifice fly to give the Cubs a three-run lead.
Financial flexibility?
After Hoyer had to ask the Ricketts family to expand the payroll budget for the Cubs’ ill-fated pursuit of Alex Bregman this spring, it’s natural to wonder whether the team will come up against budgetary limits while looking to add at the trade deadline.
“Financially, I’m comfortable that we’ll be able to address the needs we need to address at a deadline.” Hoyer said. “That’s not something I’ve really questioned or thought about at all.”
