HOUSTON — With the Houston Astros “open to trade offers,” according to GM Dana Brown, the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees have shown strong interest in trading star outfielder Kyle Tucker, who is in the final year of his Astros contract. According to multiple Major League sources.

The Cubs and Astros have held preliminary discussions focused on Tucker, sources tell KPRC 2. Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki and infielder Isaac Paredes were involved in those discussions, sources tell KPRC 2.

According to multiple sources, the Astros are said to highly covet Paredes and have been for some time. While no deal is imminent at the moment, the Cubs are considered to be in a strong position due to their mix of players ready to move to the major leagues and hosting top prospects.

Cam Smith, the 2024 first-round pick, is a player the Astros are also interested in, according to sources. They aren’t the only team that has asked the Cubs about Smith, according to a league source, who has received rave reviews from Cubs officials for his on-field performance and off-field composition. Smith played at three levels in 2024, rising all the way to Double-A in his draft year and finishing the season with a .313 batting average and a 1.004 OPS in his first taste of pro ball. The 21-year-old infielder is the 73rd best prospect in baseball in my MLB pipeline.

The Athletic first reported the inclusion of Suzuki, Paredes and Smith in trade talks.

The New York Yankees are “preparing to make Tucker a big offer,” a league source tells KPRC 2.

The Astros would expect a high return from the Yankees in any possible deal for the three-time All-Star right fielder, including several MLB-ready players and prospects. Following the departure of Juan Soto and the deal with the crosstown rival New York Mets, Tucker represents a left-handed replacement.

Tucker is an upgrade over Soto defensively in right field, winning a Gold Glove in 2022, and on the basepaths, where he stole 30 bases in 2023. Tucker missed half of the 2024 season with a stress reaction in his shin after fouling a ball off his leg. The injury should be completely healed and have no long-term consequences. In just 78 games, Tucker hit 23 home runs and had an OPS+ of 181. According to Baseball-Reference, he posted a WAR of 4.7 in half a season.

The Astros have had little success in a potential extension with Tucker, league sources tell KPRC 2. Many in the industry expected Tucker’s free-agent value to exceed $300 million during the season, although that number only since Juan Soto’s $765 million deal with the Mets hit the baseball world. In conversations with more than half a dozen people in baseball, Tucker’s potential value was estimated at over $400 million, possibly as high as $500 million.

Any of those numbers would be double or more than double the largest contract offer the Astros have ever made. Houston, whose priority is to retain third baseman Alex Bregman, has a 6-year, $156 million offer on the table for the third baseman.

Tucker is a career hitter with a 139 OPS+ and has been one of the most consistent outfielders in baseball since becoming a full-time starter in 2020.