Kyle Tucker’s wild 2024 season may have already moved away from Houston

The Houston Astros had to weigh many factors to decide how hard to push when it came to giving Kyle Tucker an extension. The team has wanted to extend Tucker for some time, but finding a number that the team is comfortable with from a risk standpoint and who also attracts a player as talented as Tucker is extremely difficult, without blowing out the competition preventively.

With any long-term deal, there is a fear that one guy will get injured or underperform and turn the deal into an albatross around the franchise’s neck for years. However, waiting too long can cause a player to create such value that a long-term deal becomes extremely expensive.

In Tucker’s case, it appears to be the case, given the way he’s struggling at the plate in 2024.

The odds were already stacked against the Astros giving Tucker an extension offer that he would accept before they started to run wild. Houston has been notoriously hesitant to award these big contracts under owner Jim Crane, and although they have loosened the purse strings a bit with the Jose Altuve extension and the Josh Hader deal, the upcoming deal of Tucker is very likely to eclipse either of these offers.

To complicate matters, Tucker is on the warpath this season. After nearly posting a 30/30 season in 2024, Tucker has been even better so far this year, on pace to eclipse those previously impressive home run totals. At the end of the season, we could be looking at a 40/30 season from him or better, and that won’t make him any cheaper.

So far, both sides are saying all the right things. Tucker is focused on playing this season, but has been open about wanting to get an extension with the Astros worked out in the past. Dana Brown has publicly stated that he wants to keep Tucker in Houston for the remainder of his career, although the timing for an extension may not yet be entirely appropriate (although it is becoming clearer by the day). day).

However, the longer both sides wait to make a deal, the more Tucker will cost, and the chance of a deal being reached becomes much lower.

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