Inside the Astros

Houston Astros Wisely Rejected Kyle Tucker Trade Offer From Phillies

The Houston Astros smartly declined the Philadelphia Phillies' trade offer for Kyle Tucker.

Tyler Maher

Sep 21, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker (30) flicks his bat after hitting a home run against the Los Angeles Angels.
Sep 21, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker (30) flicks his bat after hitting a home run against the Los Angeles Angels. / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
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After days of intense trade speculation, the Houston Astros followed through by sending All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs in a stunning blockbuster trade on Friday.

Multiple teams had expressed interest in the 27-year-old star leading up to Friday's trade, including the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies.

In fact, the Astros reportedly turned down an offer from the Phillies before accepting the Cubs' offer.

During an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Friday morning (just hours before Tucker was traded), former MLB GM Jim Bowden revealed that Houston declined Philadelphia's trade proposal that would have swapped outfielder Nick Castellanos and third baseman Alec Bohm for Tucker.

According to Bowden, "The Astros don't like Bohm defensively ... They don't view him there as a third baseman," despite Bohm's improved defensive metrics at the hot corner in 2024.

While Bohm and Castellanos are both former All-Stars with two years of team control remaining, they're both flawed players as well.

Bohm, 28, is coming off the best year of his career, during which he was worth 3.0 WAR and made his first All-Star team.

In the four seasons before that, though, he was worth just 0.8 total WAR, often frustrating Phillies fans with his inconsistent hitting and erratic defense.

Furthermore, Bohm tailed off after a strong first half last year, batting just .242/.292/.381 with six home runs in 67 games from June 25 onward.

He would've provided insurance at third base in case Alex Bregman leaves in free agency, but he's clearly a step down from Bregman.

Similarly, Castellanos is obviously inferior to Tucker.

He's been worth just 2.4 WAR over the last three seasons combined, batting .263/.309/.435 during that span.

At 32, Castellanos still has two years remaining on his five-year, $100 million contract, which hasn't paid off for the Phillies thus far.

He's also likely to decline given his age, poor plate discipline and diminishing skills.

Accordingly, Houston was smart to reject Dave Dombrowski's offer, especially since it immediately got a better one from Jed Hoyer.

The Astros got a much better trade package from Chicago, receiving 2024 All-Star Isaac Paredes (who has more years of club control remaining than Bohm), pitcher Hayden Wesneski and a top prospect in Cam Smith.

Not a bad haul for one year of Tucker.

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Tyler Maher
TYLER MAHER

Tyler grew up in Massachusetts and is a huge Boston sports fan, especially the Red Sox. He went to Tufts University and played club baseball for the Jumbos. Since graduating, he has worked for MLB.com, The Game Day, FanDuel and Forbes. When he's not writing about baseball, he enjoys running, traveling, and playing fetch with his golden retriever.

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