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The Chicago Cubs have long needed a superstar-caliber player to add into their lineup and be the face of the franchise for the next 8-10 years.
The team had that with the likes of Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez, but those three have been gone since the middle of the 2021 season. In the offseason, Chicago went out and acquired the player that fans are hoping will be the next face of the franchise, and that player is right fielder Kyle Tucker.
Tucker was acquired from the Houston Astros for a trio of players, and he is the superstar-level player that was missing from the Cubs lineup. He has showcased his greatness in the first month of the season and is a major reason why the Cubs are going to come out of April having played baseball's hardest schedule and having a record that is over .500.
There is one very important question that not only Cubs fans, but fans of most teams, are already wondering. What team will Kyle Tucker be playing for next year and beyond?
Tucker is a free agent at the end of the season and if he makes it there before reaching an extension with Chicago, he will be the most coveted player on the market. All of the big market teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and the Dodgers, especially, will be hounding Tucker and looking to add him to their lineup.
Cub fans received good news on Monday during a podcast from ESPN Chicago's David Kaplan, who gave an update on the possibility of Tucker and the Cubs reaching an extension.
"I'm hearing that the Cubs have wrapped their brain around whatever it cost we're paying it, and they want to extend Tucker." said Kaplan when discussing the likelihood of an extension between the two sides.
It is no secret Tucker's next contract will be somewhere around $450-500 million, and if the Cubs fork up the money, it will be well over double the largest contract in franchise history, which was Jason Heyward's seven-year, $184 million deal prior to the 2016 season.
If the two sides are able to agree on an extension to keep Tucker in Chicago, it will signal that the Cubs are serious about contending in the NL for many years to come.
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About the writer
Andrew Wright is a Newsweek contributor based in Lancaster, South Carolina. His focus is MLB content. Andrew has been with ... Read more