The New York Yankees, after losing Juan Soto to a historic $765 million contract offered by the New York Mets, have been looking to replace as much of Soto’s offensive production as possible. They thought they had the problem at least partially solved when they made an all-out effort to trade with the Houston Astros for three-time All Star outfielder Kyle Tucker.

Tucker compiled an impressive .870 OPS and blasted 125 home runs in seven seasons with Houston — 112 of those round-trippers coming in Tucker’s four most recent seasons, the only ones in which the 2015 Astros’ first-round draft pick (5th overall) has been a full time starting player.

Yankees Lose Out on Tucker by Including Top Prospect

But in the end, the Yankees came up short. They could not match the trade package put together by the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs sent three players to the Astros in exchange for what will be just a single season of Tucker’s services. After playing 2025 for a $16.7 million salary, Tucker is set to hit the market as a free agent, where he is projected to collect a contract in the neighborhood of $200 million over six or seven years.

What apparently sealed the deal for the Cubs was that they included their 2024 first-round draft pick, taken 14th overall, Cam Smith — ranked by MLB.com as the 5th-best third-base prospect in the game after playing less than one season in the minor leagues, and one full season at Florida State University.

The Yankees simply do not have prospects of Smith’s caliber to offer, with the possible exception of their 2023 first-round pick George Lombard Jr. But according to media reports, the Yankees did not want to part with Lombard Jr., even to land Tucker. In fact, reportedly, the Cubs were looking for a combo deal of Lombard Jr. and 2024 Rookie of the Year Luis Gil, a 26-year-old right handed hurler from the Dominican Republic.

But could the Yankees land Tucker anyway, in a blockbuster “mega trade?” One Fox Sports baseball analyst predicted on Saturday that the seemingly impossible could happen. In fact, Ben Verlander — who also hosts the Flippin’ Bats podcast — theorized the the Yankees may have secretly been the driving force behind the Astros-Cubs Tucker deal.

How Yankees Could Still Pull Off a Kyle Tucker Trade

“What if the Astros told the Yankees they wouldn’t trade Tucker there unless it was an insane deal,” Verlander wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account. “So the Yankees told the cubs to trade for Tucker and they will send them a super insane mega-deal for Tucker/Bellinger.”

Another account calling itself New York Sports Addict added to the speculation. I think Tucker is still possible if we take on Bellinger’s full contract of $52.5M/2Y.”

In other words, the Cubs have been looking to unload outfielder Cody Bellinger and the two years remaining on his contract at a cost $52.5 million. If the Yankees agreed to accommodate the Cubs by taking Bellinger and eating his contract, they could reel in the big prize, Tucker.

What are the chances that such a scenario could take place. As long as Bellinger is still available, the deal is possible, at least in a theoretical sense.

Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. Vankin is also the author of five nonfiction books on a variety of topics, as well as nine graphic novels including most recently “Last of the Gladiators” published by Dynamite Entertainment. More about Jonathan Vankin