Cubs, Kyle Tucker agree to $16.5 million salary to avoid arbitration
The negotiation took an extra week, but the Cubs and new star Kyle Tucker were able to find a middle ground to avoid an arbitration hearing. The sides agreed to a $16.5 million salary for 2025, a source confirmed Thursday.
The deal squashed any hand-wringing about the Cubs’ failure to settle with Tucker by the deadline to exchange figures last week. The Cubs had filed at $15 million and Tucker’s camp at $17.5 million. The team generally has taken a file-and-trial approach to the arbitration process, but they made an exception.
Tucker, who the Cubs acquired from the Astros in a trade last month, is in his last year of club control and can become a free agent after this season.
The Cubs were willing to part with a steep trade package – sending third baseman Isaac Paredes, right-hander Hayden Wesneski and 2024 first-round pick Cam Smith to Houston – because they saw Tucker as the missing piece to their offense.
Tucker is scheduled to attend Cubs Convention this weekend, where he’ll be formally introduced to the fanbase.
“I've been to Chicago to both play the White Sox and against the Cubs,” Tucker said over Zoom last month in his first news conference as a Cub. “Just being in the city and everything is pretty cool, it's pretty special, and especially on the North Side with the Cubs.”
Tucker has spent his entire major-league career with the Astros, in the American League. So, his first trip to play the Cubs at Wrigley Field came last April.
“It was a pretty cool experience,” he said.