{"id":93976,"date":"2025-08-27T08:35:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T08:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=93976"},"modified":"2025-08-27T08:36:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T08:36:39","slug":"cubs-must-target-rising-yankees-star-as-kyle-tucker-backup-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=93976","title":{"rendered":"Cubs Must Target Rising Yankees Star as Kyle Tucker Backup Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/.image\/w_3840,q_auto:good,c_limit\/MjY6MDAwMDAwMDAwNjc0MzYy\/mlb-minnesota-twins-at-new-york-yankees-674362.jpg\" alt=\"New York Yankees center fielder Trent Grisham in August 2025\" \/>If\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Major League Baseball<\/a>\u00a0were like the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/nba\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NBA<\/a>, then we\u2019d officially propose an offseason sign-and-trade deal featuring\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/new-york-yankees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Yankees<\/a>\u00a0outfielder Trent Grisham and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/chicago-cubs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chicago Cubs<\/a>\u00a0All-Star slugger\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/player\/kyle-tucker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kyle Tucker<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">Alas, no such rules exist in Major League Baseball, and Tucker and Grisham are both pending free agents. Although Tucker has endured a brutal second-half slump after suffering a fractured right hand in June, he\u2019s still a 28-year-old who could command at least $300 million on the open market.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">Then, there\u2019s Grisham, who has engineered one of baseball\u2019s more remarkable comeback stories. After batting .191 with a .651 OPS from 2022-24, Grisham entered Tuesday batting .250 with a career-high 25 home runs, 50 RBIs, and an .823 OPS.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">Not only has Grisham provided the Yankees with 3.1 bWAR, but he\u2019s reaching base at a .354 clip, and his 21.3% strikeout rate is easily the best of his seven-year career. If this is the Grisham that we\u2019ll see moving forward, then he\u2019s officially graduated from a defensive standout to an all-around weapon.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">Tucker makes plenty of sense for the Yankees, who need another reliable outfielder with Jasson Dom\u00ednguez\u2019s defensive struggles and questions regarding\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/tag\/aaron-judge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Aaron Judge<\/a>\u2019s future in right field. Such a move could spell the end of Grisham\u2019s tenure with the Yankees, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/chicago-cubs\/roster\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Cubs<\/a>\u00a0would be wise to pounce.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trent Grisham Makes Plenty of Sense for the Cubs<\/h2>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">Considering that Grisham plays half of his games at Yankee Stadium, it\u2019s easy to assume that the right field short porch is responsible for his offensive breakout. However, Grisham is hitting .209 with a .731 OPS at home compared to .286 and .904 on the road.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">In other words, Grisham is either the latest player to post uncharacteristic, career-best numbers in a contract year, or he\u2019s truly taken a massive step forward. For their sake, the Cubs should assume it\u2019s the latter if they plan on pursuing him.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">Grisham has exclusively played center field dating back to 2020, whereas Tucker is the Cubs\u2019 starting right fielder. Theoretically speaking, the Cubs\u00a0<em>could\u00a0<\/em>move\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/10-greatest-designated-hitters-major-league-baseball-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">designated hitter<\/a>\u00a0Seiya Suzuki back to right field, where he spent much of 2022-24.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\">A Cubs outfield featuring Grisham, Suzuki, and Pete Crow-Armstrong sounds fearsome on paper. Let\u2019s see whether it comes to fruition or if the Cubs will enter 2026 lacking both Grisham\u00a0<em>and\u00a0<\/em>Tucker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If\u00a0Major League Baseball\u00a0were like the\u00a0NBA, then we\u2019d officially propose an offseason sign-and-trade deal featuring\u00a0New York Yankees\u00a0outfielder Trent Grisham and\u00a0Chicago Cubs\u00a0All-Star slugger\u00a0Kyle Tucker. Alas, no such rules exist&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":93980,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cubs Must Target Rising Yankees Star as Kyle Tucker Backup Plan - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=93976\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cubs Must Target Rising Yankees Star as Kyle Tucker Backup Plan - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If\u00a0Major League Baseball\u00a0were like the\u00a0NBA, then we\u2019d officially propose an offseason sign-and-trade deal featuring\u00a0New York Yankees\u00a0outfielder Trent Grisham and\u00a0Chicago Cubs\u00a0All-Star slugger\u00a0Kyle Tucker. 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