Grading the Astros-Cubs, Yankees-Brewers All-Star trades

Major League Baseball saw two heavyweight trades Friday, which featured four All-Star players change clubs. Here, we break down the deals and hand out grades for each team.

Cubs land 3-time All-Star Tucker

Cubs: A

By trading for Tucker, the Chicago Cubs announced to the baseball world that they're back and serious about contending.

It's often felt like Tucker hasn't gotten the appreciation he deserves outside of Houston. A lot of this probably has to do with the fact he was playing alongside Yordan Alvarez, who had a much louder presence overall. But while he may not quite be Juan Soto - who is? - Tucker is the kind of position player you dream of building a franchise around.

The Cubs just acquired a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger-winning outfielder who's averaged 28 homers, 90 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases over the last four seasons. He's a perennial 30-30 threat and missed joining that club in 2023 by one homer. (An inside-the-park shot was ruled a triple and fielder's choice.) Last year, he hit 23 homers despite playing just 78 games because of a shin injury. He's one of the toughest players to strike out, never doing so more than 95 times in a season.

Tucker's patient, all-fields approach is a perfect fit for Wrigley Field. His Baseball Savant spray chart, having been freshly updated for his new home, shows that six of his doubles in 2024 would have been homers at the Friendly Confines.

Most importantly, perhaps, is that Tucker lengthens the Cubs' lineup and gives president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer plenty of options. Hoyer now has a clear path to trade Cody Bellinger for pitching or a third baseman or simply for salary relief that allows the club to make another splash.

There's still a lot more work to be done here. The Cubs, as mentioned, could use some more pitching, and Paredes must be replaced at the hot corner. There's also the long-term question of whether they can extend Tucker before he hits free agency next winter. But there's no question that Tucker makes the Cubs a much better team right now and improves their chances of returning to the top of the NL Central. This was a trade they had to make, and full credit to them for making it.

Astros: C

In Houston, this feels like the beginning of the end. General manager Dana Brown insisted that's not the case, saying the Astros still plan to contend in 2025. We'll give Brown and owner Jim Crane a chance to back up those words over the next few weeks, but at this moment it's hard to not scoff at that statement. It's difficult to envision them contending without Tucker, and this trade doesn't look great right now.

This isn't to say the return is bad. On that front, the Astros didn't do terribly. In Paredes, the Astros get an intriguing power bat who didn't work out in Chicago but might have just landed in his dream ballpark. Check out his spray chart superimposed on soon-to-be Daikin Park:

(Source: Baseball Savant)

Paredes' pull-heavy approach (the word "spray" might not even be in his vocabulary) could turn him into a monster with the cozy Crawford Boxes sitting 315 feet away in left. Once again, it's important to know your ballpark, and the Astros took advantage of a poor fit in Chicago to grab someone who should thrive in this new environment.

Paredes also offers the Astros some versatility as they continue with their offseason. If Brown's words are accurate and the club follows up this trade by re-signing longtime third baseman Alex Bregman, the new guy can simply shift across the diamond to fill the glaring hole at first base. Should Bregman walk away, they have his long-term replacement lined up.

The Astros also picked up Wesneski, an older but interesting arm who could fit in the back end of the rotation. The 27-year-old Houston native pitched mostly in relief for the Cubs last season but had some success during his seven spot starts, pitching into the seventh inning twice. Smith, the prospect, is a legitimate piece to get excited about, even though he won't be in the majors for another year or two. His arrival gives the Astros' barren farm system multiple top-100 prospects on MLB.com's list for the first time since 2021. Their system really needed this injection of talent, even if it's only from one player.

With all that said, we come back to the Astros viewing themselves as contenders after trading Tucker. It feels like they're deluding themselves. Teams that fancy themselves contenders do not trade players like Kyle Tucker. Even when faced with a barren farm system after an early playoff exit, contenders re-sign Kyle Tucker and build around him. Brown's plan right now is apparently to contend while replacing Tucker in right field with Chas McCormick, whose minus-0.6 bWAR last year was second worst on the team. A real contender wouldn't trade a superstar and then replace him with the equivalent of a shrug emoji.

This all changes if the Astros take whatever money they feel was saved by not paying Tucker and re-invest it into re-signing Bregman or signing Pete Alonso or acquiring a better right fielder - anything to signal they're still very much trying to stay with the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners in a winnable division. For now, though, the Astros got an interesting yet underwhelming return for a franchise pillar that makes them worse and may signal the end of their golden era.

Yankees land bullpen anchor in Williams

Yankees: A

The New York Yankees solidified the back end of their bullpen by acquiring two-time All-Star closer Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers. The right-hander has been one of the majors' most dominant relievers since breaking into the league in 2019. Over the last three seasons, Williams ranks first among qualified relievers in ERA (1.66) and opponent average (.138), second in K/9 (14.1), third in fWAR (4.9), K-BB% (27.2) and FIP (2.29), and 10th in WHIP (0.96). He's been absolutely incredible.

Williams' addition allows last season's breakout star, Luke Weaver, to transition to a setup role and gives manager Aaron Boone the ability to deploy the right-hander in multiple innings when needed. Having Weaver now available in a type of fireman role makes the Yankees' bullpen that much more daunting. With Williams set to make virtually the same amount of money in his final year of arbitration as Nestor Cortes Jr., it leaves plenty of payroll available for general manager Brian Cashman to spend in other areas.

Moving on from Cortes frees up the logjam of starting pitchers the Yankees built up following the Max Fried signing. Cashman was able to eliminate some redundancy in the rotation while simultaneously addressing an area of need.

Williams made at least 58 appearances each season from 2021-23 but missed the first half of last year due to a stress fracture in his back. He was able to make a full recovery without surgery and was dominant upon his return, posting a 1.25 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings, so there shouldn't be any durability concerns.

Tanner Scott and Jeff Hoffman are the top two relievers on the free-agent market but are likely seeking huge paydays. In Williams, the Yankees arguably get the better arm while paying a minimal cost in terms of what they sent to Milwaukee. As disappointing as seeing Soto leave the Bronx was for the Yankees, the early job Cashman's done to pivot has been exceptional.

Brewers: B

Few small-market teams do as good a job with what they have as the Brewers. For a second straight season, GM Matt Arnold opted to trade one of his star impending free agents for an opportunity to not only continue to compete in the present but also set up for the future.

While Williams is unquestionably the best player in the deal, the Brewers were able to fill multiple needs while also trimming some salary. Cortes is an effective starter and is only a couple seasons removed from an All-Star appearance. He's made 70 starts and thrown close to 400 innings over the last three seasons and is coming off a year in which he posted a 3.77 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP, and 162 strikeouts over 174 1/3 innings. Cortes would have led the Brewers in innings pitched and sat second in strikeouts in 2024. He gives Milwaukee a much-needed left-handed starter.

With the incredibly high price for free-agent starting pitching this winter - Alex Cobb landed a one-year, $15-million deal - Arnold likely realized he would need to go through the trade market to find the impact he was looking for. Cortes is projected to earn $7.7 million in his final year of arbitration. The biggest knock on the return for the Brewers here is that Cortes only has one more year of team control before hitting the open market.

Much like the Corbin Burnes return a year ago, the Brewers were able to land a position player on the verge of reaching the majors. Durbin, 24, spent the bulk of last season in Triple-A, hitting .287/.396/.471 with 10 home runs and 29 stolen bases. He'll fit right in with a club that stole the second-most bases in 2024. Durbin also possesses an elite eye, striking out in just 10% of his 375 plate appearances last season. Milwaukee is hoping that elite command of the strike zone, as well as an ability to play third base, second, and shortstop, will help cover multiple areas on the roster. There are plenty of at-bats to go around following Willy Adames' departure should the Brewers not bring in another infielder.

At the end of the day, you have to wonder if the Brewers could have received more for Williams if they were willing to add pieces further away from the majors, but it's always a difficult job for a GM of a low-payroll team to trade away stars and try to compete. We'll give Arnold, the reigning Executive of the Year, the benefit of the doubt here.