DALLAS — More and more, it is appearing as if the Astros are open to trading Kyle Tucker and the Yankees are among the teams most seriously pursuing the star outfielder, The Post has learned.
The Yankees, though, might not be the most determined pursuer of Tucker as the Winter Meetings neared an end.
The Cubs are seen as a strong player for the lefty hitter and the Giants are also involved in talks with the Astros.
The Yankees are pursuing a Kyle Tucker trade with the Astros. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
The Phillies also had been among the teams that at least inquired and tried to formulate a package that would work, but found a deal difficult to make.
Tucker, 28 next month, is eligible for free agency after the upcoming season. Juan Soto’s record 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets is seen as likely to push Tucker’s next payday up $300 million or perhaps even $400 million.
Houston owner Jim Crane has never shown the stomach for such contract sizes, which is why Tucker became such a hot topic at these meetings.
Houston actually got a preview of life without Tucker last year.
He missed three months with a shin contusion and the Astros nevertheless went an AL-best 48-31 from June 4-Sept. 5, though Tucker had been their best player before the injury.
The Astros are prioritizing major league-ready corner infielders and starting pitching if they move Tucker.
In first baseman Matt Shaw (the Cubs’ top prospect, according to MLB.com), third baseman Cam Smith and 2024 All-Star Isaac Paredes, Chicago has pieces that are attractive to Houston, which is bracing to potentially lose third baseman Alex Bregman in free agency. Outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who is owed $36 million for 2025-26, also is a player that had been discussed in a potential deal.
What makes the Yankees fascinating is that an agreement with Max Fried gives them seven potential starters for next season.
The thought is that would motivate them to trade Marcus Stroman to get out of as much of his $18 million owed next year as possible and/or Nestor Cortes, who will be entering his walk year. And that might happen.
Because the top of the Yankee farm system is in a down cycle, they would have to get creative to acquire someone as talented as Tucker, and Houston is said to be very interested in AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil. It is possible that Gil and Ben Rice could front a package that at least gets the Yankees to the table.
Tucker would represent about as good a lefty-hitting outfield response to losing Soto as the Yankees can make.
And if they land him, the Yankees would be trading for a star in that category entering his walk year for the second straight season, after obtaining Soto from the Padres at last year’s Winter Meetings. Think of Gil or perhaps Clarke Schmidt, to some degree, like Michael King last year as the key piece sent to San Diego to obtain Soto.
But like with Soto, the Yankees would have to risk that Tucker would be a one-and-done proposition. Tucker, the fifth overall pick by the Astros in 2015, has not played anywhere but Houston and, thus, almost certainly would not grant permission to work out a long-term contract as part of a trade because he would want to see how he likes any new locale.
Also, the interest in Tucker indicates a direction the Yankees are taking to try to compensate for the exit of Soto.
Kyle Tucker Getty Images
He is prime-aged, left-handed and a superb all-around player, or very similar to the Cubs’ Cody Bellinger, another player of interest to the Yankees.
The Yanks have talked to Christian Walker, but as the meetings concluded their interest seemed to have dimmed somewhat.
Walker is a Gold Glove first baseman, but he is righty and turns 34 in March. In addition, the Yankees already have signed Fried, who rejected a qualifying offer, meaning they will lose their second- and fifth-highest picks in July. Walker also rejected a qualifying offer.
Thus, if the Yanks sign him, they’d lose four of their top six picks at a time they’d be looking to restock a farm system depleted by recent trades.
A trade for Tucker would cost more young, controllable players. But, as a reflection of his all-around excellence, Tucker played just 78 games last year, yet finished 27th in the majors in WAR at 4.2 (FanGraphs).
He was fifth behind Aaron Judge, Soto, Gunnar Henderson and Bobby Witt Jr. — the ultimate top four in the AL MVP voting — when he fouled a ball off his right shin and went down for those three months.
Tucker won a Gold Glove in 2022 and finished fifth for AL MVP in 2023, when he hit 29 homers, stole 30 bases and led the AL with 112 RBIs, He had a career-best 181 OPS-plus in 339 plate appearances last season.