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Yankees Must Make Kyle Tucker Trade Despite Luis Gil Buzz Amid MLB Rumors… Read more
Zach Buckley
December 12, 2024
Luis Gil dazzled in his first full season with the New York Yankees, earning AL Rookie of the Year honors—and perhaps pitching his way out of town.
Gil might be the best trade chip at the Yankees’ disposal, and they surely need to put their best on the table if they hope to pluck Kyle Tucker away from the Houston Astros.
If the Astros send Tucker to New York, they want Gil as part of the return package, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post opined, Gil and catcher/first baseman Ben Rice “could front a package that at least gets the Yankees to the table.”
That table would be crowded, though. Sherman added that the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies all have interest in Tucker.
Save for some bottom-feeding rebuilders, it’s hard to think of who wouldn’t want him.
He is 27 years old and owns a resume that includes three All-Star selections, one Gold Glove, one Silver Slugger and a top-five finish in MVP voting (fifth in 2023). His list of accolades might be even longer had he not lost most of the 2024 season’s second half to a fracture in his shin. Even with the time missed, he managed to tally 23 homers and 11 steals in just 78 contests.
This past season, he posted a career-best 181 OPS+, per Baseball-Reference. For context, he fared better in that category than Juan Soto (178), who just ditched the Yankees to score a record-setting 15-year, $765 million deal from the New York Mets.
New York has been firmly in the market for an impact hitter ever since. The baseball gods may not offer up a better option than Tucker.
He isn’t quite the same caliber slugger as Soto, but Tucker isn’t far behind. Soto’s career 162-game averages include 35 home runs and 102 RBI; Tucker’s are 32 and 107, respectively. Soto has a career .532 slugging percentage; Tucker is at .516.
Tucker can also be an asset in the field or on the basepaths in ways Soto can’t match. That’s not to suggest Tucker is a better player, but it’s intended to highlight how he is a bona fide superstar of similar wattage.
Truth be told, Tucker might have even more in common with Soto than the Yankees would like. That’s because Tucker has free agency awaiting him after next season, just like Soto did when New York traded for him last December.
So, there’s a chance Tucker winds up being a one-year rental just like Soto was. Perhaps that causes some hesitation about sacrificing Gil to get him.
The Yankees shouldn’t let that hold them back.
For one, they could already start preparing an offer for Tucker’s next contract. It will be enormous (maybe in the $300 million to $400 million range), but it won’t be as big as Soto’s.
For another, they have the pitching depth to get by without Gil. Remember, they just signed Max Fried to join Gerrit Cole atop this rotation. Take Gil out of the mix, and they can still round out the rotation with Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt and either Nestor Cortes or Marcus Stroman.
The rotation might miss Gil’s presence, but the reward of adding Tucker to this lineup and forming another uber-talented-tandem with Aaron Judge outweighs the risk. Great players aren’t made available often, and the Yankees can’t afford to let this opportunity pass them by.
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