The Cubs did not want any Bad Vibes infecting Cubs Convention this weekend. To that end, this is a very savvy move: there will be no arbitration fight with Kyle Tucker.
Breaking News: The Cubs and OF Kyle Tucker have agreed on a $16.5 mil contract for 2025, sources tell ESPN. The sides avoid an arbitration hearing and Tucker will be in Chicago for the team's fan convention this weekend.— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) January 16, 2025
Historically, the Cubs have been a file-and-trial team, so they made something of a rare exception to settle with Kyle Tucker. Seems appropriate, given that he’s a star player they just traded to acquire. Proceeding to an arbitration hearing would’ve been so stupid.
The Cubs even settled closer to Tucker’s number ($17.5 million) than their own ($15 million). So he won! They yielded! They can sell positive vibes now! Tucker will DEFINITELY be signing an extension eventually!
Ahhhh, OK, just kidding on that last part. An extension still seems pretty unlikely, even if a needless arbitration fight would’ve been an additional issue and that’s now out of the picture. I expect there will be at least superficial talks at some point, and Jed Hoyer did suggest that’ll probably happen. But I think we should all keep our expectations tempered, given that the Cubs have yet to give out a truly monster contract to anyone, and Tucker is just a year away from free agency, in a market where his price tag could swing to something north of $300 or $400 million, depending on how strong his 2025 campaign is.
For now, let’s just be happy that this stupid arbitration fight is over before it began, and we can just enjoy Tucker’s introduction at CubsCon this weekend. And then enjoy him raking for the Cubs in 2025.