By Chandler Rome, Ken Rosenthal, Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney

DALLAS – The Houston Astros traded outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs on Friday afternoon, completing a whirlwind 72 hours for two clubs facing a crossroads.

The Astros are receiving a package that includes infielder Isaac Paredes, right-hander Hayden Wesneski and infield prospect Cam Smith, league sources said The athlete. The deal is subject to a medical review.

For a Cubs team in desperate need of a star, Tucker answers one of the biggest questions the organization has faced since trading away its World Series core at the 2021 trade deadline. Jed Hoyer, the Cubs’ president of baseball operations, has been hesitant to pay free-agent prices for the biggest names in recent offseasons under ownership, well behind Los Angeles’ Shohei Ohtani last winter Dodgers lagged behind and didn’t even get into the running for the New York Mets “Juan Soto.

Tucker is expected to earn a salary of $15.8 million this winter – his last as an arbitration-eligible player. Tucker turns 28 in January and is expected to get a huge payday next winter following Soto’s $765 million contract with the New York Mets.

Of all major league outfielders since 2020, only Soto, Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts have more wins than Tucker. A broken tibia cost Tucker 79 games last season, but he still managed to post 4.7 bWAR and 181 OPS+ in 339 plate appearances.

Trading Tucker represents a departure from Houston’s standard operating procedures during this decade of dominance, but bloated payroll from misallocated money and a broken farm system virtually forced third-year general manager Dana Brown to make Tucker available.

The fact that Houston owner Jim Crane has never guaranteed a player more than $151 million must also have been factored into the discussion. Under Soto’s contract, Tucker could receive a free-agent contract worth at least $400 million next winter.

For the Cubs, this is the next stage of a more transactional, data-driven strategy under Hoyer, who is entering the final season of the five-year contract he signed when he replaced Theo Epstein.

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Why Kyle Tucker fits what the Chicago Cubs are looking for

The Cubs acquired Paredes from the Tampa Bay Rays less than five months ago, trading away Christopher Morel and two young pitchers. The Astros had strong interest in Paredes during the trade deadline, ranking “second” behind the Cubs in the bidding process, according to a major league source.

At this trade deadline, the Cubs did not act as traditional buyers or sellers, instead taking a mixed approach, adding and subtracting major league talent while trying to build for the future.

That evolving philosophy had led the Cubs to Wesneski, a pitcher targeted at the 2022 trade deadline for his potential emergence as a starter. The Cubs traded Scott Effross, a sidearm reliever under longtime control, for Wesneski, a top-tier prospect in the New York Yankees’ farm system.

Wesneski, who grew up in the Houston area, didn’t quite get it right at Wrigley Field, but he was an effective major league swingman and could benefit from a change of scenery.

The Cubs selected Smith out of Florida State in the first round of this year’s draft, adding him to their growing group of top-100 prospects. This gradual accumulation of young talent opened up new opportunities and encouraged a conscious front office to make a blockbuster win-now trade.

But even though Hoyer is paying a high price, he now has an offensive centerpiece. It’s a group with solid – but not spectacular – talent. By surrounding Tucker with the likes of Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki – along with Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson – he expands a lineup that doesn’t have the type of player opponents have to fight around. Tucker’s presence will elevate the rest of the group and help bring some stability to a lineup that has all too often fallen into deep funk.

The price of acquiring Tucker was high — especially for a player who is just a season away from free agency — but he changes the dynamic of this Cubs offense. Since 2020, only nine players have surpassed Tucker’s 143 wRC+ during that span. Since 2010, only Anthony Rizzo or Kris Bryant have had a season of 140 wRC+ or better in a Cubs uniform.

Tucker is also an all-around threat as a strong baserunner and Gold Glove winner in right field. He has extensive postseason experience, having appeared in 64 playoff games and helping the Astros win the 2022 World Series.

The Cubs expect Tucker to help them get back to playing baseball at Wrigley Field in October.

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(Photo: Tim Warner/Getty Images)