Tucker Trade Talks Heating Up: Astros Poised to Receive Franchise-Altering Haul for Superstar Outfielder

In the midst of the Winter Meetings, Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown made it clear that they were willing to listen to offers for anyone on their roster.

The dynastic franchise has seen its perennial dominance begin to wane of late, having missed the World Series twice in as many years for the first time since 2015-2016.

Some of their star players who have helped in their reign are quickly approaching free agency, including outfielder Kyle Tucker.

Tucker was not always the superstar that he has become.

His prowess was outshined by other stars on the team like Carlos Correa, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, and Jose Altuve. One has since left in free agency, while the other three remain, but Tucker has reached his prime in a major way, showing just how valuable he can be.

The superstar has improved his plate discipline over the last two years, with his seasonal walk rates climbing from slightly above league average to just below doubling the league average. That goes with his always impressive ability to mitigate the strikeouts. He adds impressive home run and gap-to-gap power to that plate discipline, and while he is one of the slower players in the sport, he picks his spots well and has a great mind for baserunning, which has turned that into multiple seasons of double-digit steals.

Defensively, Tucker has won a Gold Glove in the past for his efforts, but that was more for his arm than his glove.

The outfielder threw out six baserunners in 2022 from right field, which accounted for five of his nine runs of value at the position per Baseball Savant.

Tucker is a lefty-swinging pull-hitter with a batted-ball profile that David Ortiz would drool over.

Any contender needing an upgrade in the outfield would trip all over themselves to add the star to their roster, regardless of the cost.

But what do the Astros need, and what would that cost be?

When looking at Fangraphs’ Opening Day lineup and rotation projections with the removal of Tucker and Bregman (assuming he signs elsewhere), the most glaring need is for a corner infielder.

This has been a need for quite some time, specifically first base where the team ranked 26th in MLB in 2024 with an OPS of .651 from the position.

Not many contenders have extra first basemen lying around, though one fringe contender, the Detroit Tigers, has one that they would be willing to move off of in Spencer Torkelson.

He was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 MLB draft but has failed to find his footing at the Major League level with the Tigers.

He has shown flashes in the past of being a capable Major Leaguer, hitting 31 home runs in 2023 and posting a 107 OPS+, so a change of scenery could be what Torkelson needs to alleviate some of the pressure that rests on his shoulders by being the team’s previous top pick.