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New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman

The past few months haven’t been kind to the New York Yankees, now sitting in third place in the American League East after losing to the Boston Red Sox again on Saturday. For a Yankees team that had World Series aspirations just a few months ago, they don’t look like they’re in the best position to accomplish that heading into September.

However, once free agency hits, especially if the Yankees continue to play this way heading into the back end of the season, there might have to be drastic changes. That includes trying to go out and sign the top free agents available, with Kyle Tucker being that player.

However, when looking at the top players available, while Mark Feinsand of MLB.com noted that Tucker is the best player in free agency, he didn’t have the Yankees as a potential landing spot. Nonetheless, he had him getting $400 million, which is more critical if the Yankees want to get in on the slugger.

“Tucker started his first season with the Cubs on a tear, hitting 17 home runs with 52 RBIs, 20 stolen bases and a .931 OPS through June. A hand injury might have contributed to Tucker’s step back offensively in July and August, but he remains the best and most well-rounded player on the free-agent market this winter, having been worth at least 4.0 fWAR in every year since 2021. The four-time All-Star could command a deal north of $400 million,” he wrote .

Cause for Concern Over Kyle Tucker?

Tucker hasn’t had his best season, which is a bit worrisome. He was one of the better hitters in Major League Baseball to start the season, and has been over much of the past five-plus years. Still, he’s hitting just .262 with 21 home runs this year for the Chicago Cubs after being acquired in a deal with the Houston Astros during the offseason.

To Kurt Bishop of FanSided, this should give the Yankees more of a reason to stay away from him, noting that even with his price potentially dropping, the New York Yankees still will have a big price to pay, and it might not be worth it.

“The Yankees are typically big spenders in free agency, but if Tucker’s value continues to fall, then they may want to stay away from him, similarly to how they have stayed away from Nolan Arenado in any trade talks. The Yankees are already paying Aaron Judge a significant amount of money and are saddled with Giancarlo Stanton’s contract for years to come,” he wrote .

“Paying another star, especially one that may be losing value, is likely not on the Yankees’ bingo card this coming offseason. Even if he’s healthy now, his recent numbers signify a troubling trend for the four-time All-Star.”

Should the Yankees Proceed With Caution on Kyle Tucker?

Despite Tucker’s tough play over the past few weeks, there are reasons for it. According to the All-Star himself, he’s currently dealing with a hand issue.

The New York Yankees have to be careful with that.

Even if his price drops to around $350 to $400 million, with many suggesting that it could be as high as $500 million depending on how the market plays out, the last thing the Yankees would want to do is pay somebody that much to have him be injured.

“I was doing fine and everything, still playing well,” Tucker said , per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian.

“So, I was just like, ‘I’m going to keep playing.’ There wasn’t really a need to go on an IL, because I could still do everything. It was more like a pain tolerance at that point rather than like I physically couldn’t do anything …. I didn’t really try and change my mechanics or anything. It might’ve gradually happened over time — I don’t know. I was just kind of playing with it. I was doing fine for a while and, obviously, after a while it kind of turned.”

Jon Conahan covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. Since 2019, his sports coverage has appeared at Sports Illustrated, oddschecker, ClutchPoints and Sportskeeda. More about Jon Conahan