Yankees get burned in 2 wild ways after Cubs-Astros Kyle Tucker trade

Well, that's that. The New York Yankees couldn't seal the deal to acquire the most fitting Juan Soto replacement in Kyle Tucker, but all hope is not lost. Plenty of options remain for the Bombers to improve their 2025 roster.

But they almost got him, as the Tucker sweepstakes came down to the wire with the Chicago Cubs emerging triumphant and the Yankees in a close second. It turns out there were equally respectable offers.

The deal that got across the finish line featured infielder Isaac Paredes, pitcher Hayden Wesneski and top third base prospect Cam Smith. This helps the Astros solve their third base issue in the short- and long-term, potentially, with Alex Bregman likely leaving.

Notice that other name, though? Sound familiar? It's because Wesneski was a former top Yankees prospect who was traded to the Cubs in 2022 for reliever Scott Effross, who has done absolutely nothing for New York except be injured.

So the Cubs took an asset they acquired from the Yankees, while parting with a ticking time bomb in Effross, and used that to land one of the best sluggers in the game for the 2025 season.

Yankees News: Kyle Tucker traded to Cubs after Astros weigh packages

Did that fully tilt the scales, though? Not at all, it was just a cherry on top of the cake of BS. Shortly after the deal was reportedly agreed to, a tweet purporting to be the Yankees' proposed trade package to Houston was revealed ... and we'd say it was objectively better. In fact, it might've been a massive overpay they would have eventually regretted. It included both Gil and George Lombard Jr., along with Ben Rice, a combination that Jon Heyman later claimed New York wasn't willing to touch.

But Astros owner Jim Crane reportedly did not want to trade with the Yankees, so he opted for the Cubs deal, took what was on the table, and abruptly moved on.

Since this dropped, it's been said the inclusion of Gil is completely false and that the Yankees were not willing to move him for Tucker. It's possible this is all semantics -- maybe the Yankees were willing to include him, but Crane wouldn't listen, allowing them to save face and claim he was never offered. Either way, we'd argue swapping in somebody else highly valued in the system would've made the package better than Chicago's.

But you simply couldn't find a way to squeeze Jasson Dominguez in there (if that's what the Astros wanted), or else you'd be losing another starting outfielder. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses and move on.

It's not like the Yankees are devoid of contingency plans, either. Bregman remains available, and would fill a high-profile need at third base. Cody Bellinger could still be on the table in trade talks with the Cubs, with those rumors only picking up steam as Tucker entered the fold (and they're reportedly still ongoing between New York and Chicago).

The spiteful Astros will get what's coming to them. We can only hope a long, painful rebuild is in their future, and this time it would feature them whiffing on all those draft picks that made them the dynasty they've been since 2017.