The Blue Jays shocked the entire baseball world last night when they announced the signing of superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a 14-year, $500 million extension. The Blue Jays, who have recently struck out on mega deals for Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani, made Guerrero Jr. the third-highest player in baseball history. They are keeping their homegrown star in toronto for a long time.
Similarly, the Chicago Cubs have a superstar in the prime of his career who is due for a massive payday: his name is Kyle Tucker.
Tucker was acquired by the Cubs in December for a haul of young talent. He has been everything Chicago could have hoped for. At the time of writing this, Tucker is slashing .319/.458/.745 for a 1.202 OPS and a 233 OPS+. He has hit five homers and driven in 15 in just 12 games this season.
How Guerrero’s deal affects Tucker
But how will the Guerrero’s contract affect the Cubs’ negotiations with Tucker? It could be argued that Tucker will want to uproot Guerrero Jr. as the third-highest-paid player in baseball history. His floor may now be the $500 million mark.
Tucker also likely has more leverage than Guerrero did with the Blue Jays, especially if the Cubs go on a run this season. For starters, the Cubs gave up significant capital to land him, and they won’t want him to walk away after just one season.
Next, Tucker won’t have spent nearly as much time in Chicago as Guerrero did in Toronto, meaning his willingness to give his current team a discount is less likely.
Lastly, Tucker is a better player than Guerrero. While it’s true that Guerrero has the rare luxury of signing a deal as a 26-year-old, Tucker is an all-around better player. One might guess that Tucker may have less pop than Guerrero, but Tucker edges him in SLG, OPS, and OPS+. He also has nearly five times the amount of stolen bases and has the same amount of gold gloves.
The Cubs will have competition
Additionally, Tucker is almost certainly going to test the free-agent market this upcoming off-season. He may be foolish, not too. Even if he plans to return to Chicago, it is smart to put the pressure on the Ricketts family to open up their checkbooks. This will only drive up his price and force the Cubs to extend past their comfort zone.
The other troubling part for the Cubs is that now Tucker becomes the most coveted bat in free agency. If Guerrero was on the market, teams would be unable to go all-in to lure Tucker. But he is now the unquestioned bell of the ball, which will only make life more difficult for the Cubs.
The Cubs should do everything in their power to extend Tucker before the offseason arrives. They may need to exceed the $500 million mark at the very least. It’s safe to say the Cubs will need to back up the Brinx truck to extend their best player since Kris Bryant was in MVP form.
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