{"id":80896,"date":"2025-08-21T00:32:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T00:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=80896"},"modified":"2025-08-21T00:32:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T00:32:13","slug":"struggling-kyle-tucker-benched-shortly-after-600m-contract-buzz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=80896","title":{"rendered":"Struggling Kyle Tucker Benched Shortly After $600M Contract Buzz"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Perhaps the biggest MLB free-agent prize of the upcoming offseason is slumping badly and is not currently playing as his team seeks a \u201creset.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cubs benched star outfielder Kyle Tucker for both halves of a doubleheader Tuesday against the Brewers, with Chicago sweeping both games, and kept him out of the starting lineup again on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

After being named to his fourth straight All-Star team in July, Tucker has since hit just .182 with one home run and six runs batted in. More recently, Tucker\u2019s skid has included a stretch of just two hits in his last 25 at-bats, and boos for him have grown louder and more frequent at Wrigley Field.<\/p>\n

The situation is a significant turn for a player who was at the top of many MLB free-agent lists, particularly after the Blue Jays extended first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in April. Tucker was set to garner an annual salary likely in excess of $35 million, perhaps by a significant margin, and build heavily beyond his current $16.5 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fans are frustrated and Kyle\u2019s frustrated,\u201d said Cubs manager Craig Counsell. \u201cHe\u2019s trying. It\u2019s just not clicking. We\u2019re going to have to take a little step back here, for sure, and just give him some days off to reset him, hopefully.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still quite possible that Tucker will garner a highly lucrative contract in the fall as he reaches free agency. Some projections before the All-Star Game even reached $600 million for a future deal, as players such as Juan Soto and his $765 million pact with the Mets have helped reset the MLB player market. His performance the rest of the season, however, will likely be quite influential to that forthcoming situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cTuck is going to be fine,\u201d teammate Ian Happ said Wednesday on WSCR-AM in Chicago. \u201cHe\u2019s one of the best players in baseball. Sometimes just being able to watch baseball for a day and just get away from it \u2026 and not have to be grinding through at-bats can help a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cubs traded a trio of players to the Astros for Tucker last December, and the deal has generally worked out for both sides. Chicago, looking to return to the postseason after a five-year absence, currently holds the top wild-card slot in the National League, Houston leads the American League West division, and is poised for a ninth-straight playoff berth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps the biggest MLB free-agent prize of the upcoming offseason is slumping badly, and not currently playing as his team seeks a \u201creset.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":80897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nStruggling Kyle Tucker Benched Shortly After $600M Contract Buzz - NEWS USA<\/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:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=80896\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Struggling Kyle Tucker Benched Shortly After $600M Contract Buzz - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Perhaps the biggest MLB free-agent prize of the upcoming offseason is slumping badly, and not currently playing as his team seeks a \u201creset.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=80896\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-21T00:32:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/avtvip-2025-08-21T073146.889.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=80896\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=80896\",\"name\":\"Struggling Kyle Tucker Benched Shortly After $600M Contract Buzz - 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