Jon Heyman: Baseline number to sign Kyle Tucker is at least $500 million

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00:00Well, I think one of the reasons people feel that way, Kyle Tucker off to the kind of start

00:04everybody in Chicago hoped he would be.

00:07Five home runs already, 15 runs batted in, he is one of the best players in the National

00:11League or off to one of the hottest starts.

00:14So John, I ask you this, in light of Vlad Guerrero signing for $500 million in 14 years

00:19in Toronto, is that the blueprint for something that the Cubs should look at if they are going

00:25to extend Kyle Tucker and keep him in Chicago?

00:30I will get to the contract in a second.

00:31First, I will say this is lesson number 10,000 on why spring training means nothing.

00:37He was 0 for 20 when he got to the Cubs and he did a home run in that game.

00:42Meanwhile, Cam Smith, the key guy in the trade going the other way, never made outs in spring

00:50training and he's now 2 for 18.

00:52So there you go for spring training.

00:55It was a great deal as we suspected by the Cubs, I do believe, and he is a great player.

01:02And I was in the lobby right after Soto signed for $765 million and there was talk, wow,

01:08Kyle Tucker may not get $765 million, but look at the war and all that and he's pretty

01:14comparable to Soto.

01:17You know, I do think he is a better comp for Soto than Vlad is as a right fielder.

01:23The war is fairly similar.

01:24I will say this, Soto has more cachet, Soto has championship, he's been in two World Series,

01:33he's done it in New York, which we count, since I'm in New York, we still count that

01:38as a plus.

01:39So, you know, I think Soto is going to keep the record.

01:42I do think Kyle Tucker is a better player.

01:45I love Vlad Guerrero, he's great, he's a superstar.

01:48I think Tucker is better than Vlad Guerrero, so there you have it.

01:54And Vlad signed back with his old team, could he have gotten more?

01:59I'm not sure that he could have, I think he did great, but he has a year to go and Tucker

02:04will be a free agent, so, you know, I think we're looking at, I'm sure, from their perspective,

02:10$500 million as the absolute baseline, although I will say Guerrero has more cachet than Tucker.