Jed Hoyer Didn’t Even Blink: Why the Chicago Cubs Moved On from Kyle Tucker
A lot of Chicago Cubs fans are going to eat this up because as good as Kyle Tucker was for the first three months in a Cubs uniform it was equally if not even more painful to watch him flame out in 2025. Jed Hoyer didn’t even have to say too much and quite frankly it’s not like he went on with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman to put Tucker on blast. Yet, in a subtle manner, Hoyer kind of shared similar thoughts as many Cubs fans did following the 2025 season.
A large portion of the fan base grew tired of watching Tucker ground out to second base, bringing back memories of Jason Heyward doing it year after year. Tucker seemingly never connected with the city, fans at Wrigley Field and there was an even bigger disconnect when he was sidelined twice in 2025 because of an injury. First, a finger issue wrecked Tucker’s mechanics and his performance cratered so much that it led to on-field pouting and a mini benching. Then, a calf strain kept him out of action for most of September, an injury that seemingly lasted longer than the Cubs expected.
He wasn’t with his teammates to celebrate a postseason berth and when Tucker did return at the end of the year he looked overmatched in the playoffs. Some fans will never let Tucker live down his big whiff in Game 5 of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers.
I mean, it was right there man, 3-1 fastball…
Yes, Kyle Tucker should've crushed that 3-1 fastball middle-middle in the 6th.
— Lance Brozdowski (@LanceBroz) October 12, 2025
BUT! Aaron Ashby throwing back-to-back four-seamers in that AB was electric. He'd thrown that pitch <10 times to lefties this year, just 2%.
Befuddled Tuck in the biggest AB of the season. Hat tip. pic.twitter.com/AXS97krQsx
It became fairly evident early on in free agency that the Cubs had absolutely no interest in re-signing Tucker. Sure, we could say it was the same old Cubs being cheap and ownership not wanting to pay up for a top free agent. However, the Cubs did make a huge splash in free agency, investing $175 million for Alex Bregman, prying him away from the Boston Red Sox.
But yeah, that’s certainly a few levels below Tucker’s ridiculous four-year, $240 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Truth is, no other team was going to beat that, but the Cubs simply didn’t care.
Hoyer was a guest on The Show with Heyman and Sherman this week and all you need to know about how the Cubs felt regarding Tucker’s one season on the North Side of Chicago can be summed up in two words: the fit.
Tucker just did not fit with the Cubs and without bashing him as a player you can tell Hoyer was very clearly not willing to entertain a reunion with a guy that didn’t fit with the rest of the core. Look at the guy they replaced Tucker with, Bregman. A leader on the field and off. He’s constantly trying to improve himself and the teammates around him. Similar to Nico Hoerner’s attitude and preparation, Bregman fits the mold joining a group of baseball rats in the Cubs clubhouse.
Meanwhile, there were question marks popping up this past offseason from national media that were pretty bad for Tucker. Does he have a true passion to play baseball and the ultimate low-blow, getting compared to Anthony Rendon.
Maybe it is coping for Cubs fans because Tucker was pretty damn good when he was healthy in 2025. At the same time, Tucker’s star sure did burn out fast with the Cubs and it’s kind of crazy how that good of player isn’t really missed by fans who have been starving for top-tier talent since the last championship core was assembled.