The Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros agreed to a four-player blockbuster commerce on Friday that sends All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker to Chicago and third baseman Isaac Paredes among the many gamers going to Houston.

At any time when a giant deal goes down, you’ll be able to depend on one factor at CBS Sports activities: the commerce grades therapy. Which means evaluation on every concerned participant, in addition to ideas on the bigger circumstances. It additionally means me making an attempt to summarize my emotions within the type of a single letter grade.

You will discover all of that beneath. First, although, right here is the commerce in entire:

• Cubs obtain: OF Kyle Tucker
• Astros obtain: 3B Isaac Paredes, 3B Cam Smith, and RHP Hayden Wesneski

Now, on to the rationale you clicked. 

Cubs: A

The Cubs are coming off a very disappointing 12 months that noticed them end 10 video games again of the Milwaukee Brewers. How does a staff be certain that will not occur once more? The Cubs’ reply: making an opportunistic commerce for one of many sport’s 15 finest hitters.

Honestly, that description may undersell the 27-year-old Tucker. Over the past three seasons, he ranks within the high 10 in OPS+ and within the high 15 in Wins Above Alternative. He would fare even higher in each statistics had been it not for the damaged shin he suffered final summer time that value him important time throughout what would’ve been a profession 12 months.

Tucker is an offensive drive with a splendid mixture of barrel and zone management. He would not provide elite top-end exit velocities, however he routinely hits the ball onerous and on a line. He is averaged 28 residence runs per pop over the past 4 seasons, and within the final two years he is virtually walked as usually as he is struck out. It will be completely truthful to explain him extra as a pure hitter with energy than an influence hitter. 

Tucker has additionally proven himself to be an efficient and environment friendly risk on the basepaths, having swiped 66 baggage (on 75 makes an attempt) over the past three years. That athleticism lends itself to him typically enjoying an above-average nook outfield. Add all of it collectively, and the Cubs simply landed themselves somebody I might rank as their finest participant.

The query for the Cubs is now what comes subsequent — each inside this offseason and with Tucker. I’ve to imagine Chicago will discover a option to commerce Cody Bellinger over the approaching days, as a way of liberating up some cash and optimizing the roster. Would the Cubs then be prepared to show round and provides Tucker a long-term extension value no matter it takes (absolutely at the least $30 million yearly)? That may be a logical follow-up step for a Cubs staff that has some huge cash coming off the books after 2026.

The Cubs have time to determine all that out. For now, they need to have a good time making a transfer that reveals they’re all about atoning for the failures of final season. 

Astros: B+

Instances are altering in Houston. Not solely is Kyle Tucker on his option to Chicago, however the inclusion of Paredes on this deal would appear to point that franchise mainstay Alex Bregman is on his manner out as a free agent, too. The place that leaves left-hander Framber Valdez, himself underneath staff management for only one extra season, is to be decided. 

Your ideas on this commerce will align with how you are feeling in regards to the Astros’ unwillingness to signal Tucker long run. For those who’re OK with a large-market squad bailing a 12 months early on a famous person, then you’ll be able to relaxation straightforward understanding they obtained at the least truthful worth again on this commerce. For those who’re not — and thoughts you, the Astros have solely 4 gamers locked in on assured offers past the 2026 season, and solely three past 2027 — then you definitely in all probability weren’t going to understand or co-sign any deal that basic supervisor Dana Brown made right here. Each are defensible positions. 

I do suppose the Astros had some non-financial incentive to make a transfer like this. Houston’s farm system has suffered from all of the years of late or forfeited picks and win-now trades. That issues as a result of it is left the Astros with an ageing core that is rising dearer with every passing 12 months. In some unspecified time in the future, they had been going to wish to infuse their staff with youth to keep away from a collective decline. Nevertheless disagreeable you might discover this transfer, it ought to add two youthful bats to the lineup over the approaching 12 months. (To wit, the 25-year-old Paredes is projected to be the youngest member of Houston’s beginning lineup… and he has almost 4 years of major-league service time.)

There’s additionally this: you can also make an actual argument that Smith is healthier than any of the 4 prospects the Chicago White Sox obtained for left-hander Garrett Crochet — and that is with the Astros additionally returning two different gamers who’ve already loved MLB success and have years of staff management remaining apiece. 

Smith, 21, performed himself into the 14th slot within the 2024 draft starting with a powerful exhibiting within the 2023 Cape Cod League. A remade swing allowed him to slice into his strikeout price, dropping it from 28.7% the earlier 12 months to fifteen%. Smith then hit the bottom working as a professional, batting .313/.396/.609 with seven residence runs and two stolen bases over 32 video games. He even closed out the season with a Double-A cameo, suggesting he might — emphasis on might — attain the majors in the course of the 2025 marketing campaign.

Smith combines above-average power and endurance from the correct aspect, giving him middle-of-the-order potential. Defensively, scouts have questioned his skill to stay at third base for the lengthy haul. It is at the least doable that he finally ends up shifting down the defensive spectrum to a different nook. Ought to that come to cross, there will be extra stress on him making good on his offensive promise.

Paredes, 25, being on the transfer for a second time in six months speaks to the disconnect between his manufacturing (70 residence runs, 119 OPS+ since 2022) and the trade’s unease along with his profile. His exit velocity is abysmal for somebody with these energy marks, along with his common rating among the many 15 worst within the majors. But Paredes has mastered the One Neat Trick essential to outperform his meager power indicators: he is the grasp at pulling the ball within the air. 

No certified MLB hitter final season pulled a better proportion of fly balls than Paredes’ 23.6%. What that allowed him to do, at the least throughout his time with the Tampa Bay Rays, was benefit from the Tropicana Area outfield association and stack up residence runs that would not have been residence runs in another ballpark. The excellent news for Paredes is that he appears nicely suited to launch ball after ball into Houston’s Crawford Bins, in flip respiratory new life into his sport after a failed stint with the Cubs. 

Wesneski, 27, has break up elements of the final three seasons between the rotation and bullpen, compiling a 3.93 ERA (106 ERA+) and a 3.05 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has an east-and-west arsenal, led by a standout swing-and-miss sweeper. I suppose it is doable the Astros entertain utilizing Wesneski as a starter, relying on their plans for the remainder of the offseason. He has struggled with the home-run ball as a big-league pitcher, nonetheless, and he missed two months final season with a strained forearm. No matter function the Astros deploy him in, I feel he’ll present them with some worth.