With the Cubs poised to lose Kyle Tucker to free agency, it made me curious about what other teams have done after losing an expensive rental player that they traded for the year before. I’m going to exclude relief pitchers who are not closers. I’m using the WAR from Fangraphs, as it seems to be a bit more accurate for pitchers.
Before the 2025 season
Yankees lose Juan Soto (8.3 WAR)
Replacement: Cody Bellinger (4.9 WAR)
Soto was not really replaceable, but the Yankees made a good effort, getting Bellinger for a non-prospect from the Cubs. The Cubs were willing to make the deal, as they “only” paid $5 million of his $27.5 million salary and $5 million buyout. But $27.5 million for 4.9 is not too bad.
Orioles lose: Corbin Burnes (3.8 WAR)
Replacements: Tomoyuki Sugano (0.1 WAR) and Charlie Morton (0.3 WAR)
Things did not go well for Burnes or the Orioles in 2025, as he was lost for the season with an injury, and they struggled to a losing season. A team with young talent that looked poised to contend for several years appears to be facing a tough road, especially with the Yankees, Blue Jays and Red Sox in the same division.
Padres lose: Tanner Scott (0.7 WAR – acquired in mid-season trade)
Replacement: Mason Miller (1.1 WAR – acquired in mid-season trade)
The Padres spent a lot of minor league talent on these deals, trading their #3 (then #36 overall – now #51 overall) , #10 and #11 prospects to the Marlins for 3 months of Scott. And then they traded their top prospect, Leo De Vries (now #3 overall), and two other players who are now #4 and #8 in the Athletics system for Miller. But Miller is now also the replacement for Robert Suarez.
Astros lose: Yusai Kikuchi (1.4 WAR – acquired in mid-season trade)
Replacements: Too many to name
The Astros had two internal starters with over 30 starts each, but the rest of the starts were split amongst 13 pitchers.
Red Sox lose: Tyler O’Neill (2.6 WAR)
Replacement: Roman Anthony (2.7 WAR)
Anthony missed half the season due to injury and still had a higher war than O’Neill – who was terrible for the Orioles in 2025. But Anthony was the #24 prospect.
Dodgers lose Jack Flaherty (0.8 WAR – acquired in mid-season trade)
Replacement: Blake Snell (1.9 WAR)
The Dodgers just opened up the wallet to sign Snell.
Brewers lose Frankie Montas (0.5 – acquired in mid-season trade)
Replacement: Several players as part of a rotation overhaul
The Brewers needed multiple new starters in 2025, as they also lost Colin Rea, Tobias Myers was dropped to the bullpen, and Aaron Civale, during the season, demanded a trade. And they found. Chad Patrick, who was acquired in 2024 but made his MLB debut in 2025. Jose Quintana was signed. Quinn Priester was acquired from Boston. Jacob Misiorowski was promoted. And Brandon Woodruff returned from injury.
Guardians lose Alex Cobb (0.3 WAR)
Replacement: Slade Cecconi (0.7 WAR) among others.
The Guardians had a pretty young rotation (no player over 26 had more than 9 starts), with Cecconi being the key newcomer.
Rangers lose Carson Kelly (0.2 WAR – acquired in mid-season trade)
Replacement: Kyle Higashioka (1.0 WAR)
Kelly did much better in a Cubs uniform.
Before the 2024 Season
Mariners lose: Teoscar Hernandez (1.9 WAR)
Replacement: Dominic Canzone (1.5 WAR) / Victor Robles (-0.2 WAR) / Leody Tavares (-1.0 WAR)
The Mariners used three players to replace Hernandez, but only Canzone was provided much production. He had been acquired from the Diamondbacks in 2023 in the Paul Sewald trade.
Rangers lose Aroldis Chapman (0.5 WAR – acquired in mid-season trade)
Replacement: Kirby Yates (1.9 WAR)
As Cubs fans know. this was not the first time Chapman was a rental pickup. He shared the closer role with Jose Leclerc on the way to a World Series title in 2023.
Yates has bounced around late in his career – but he parlayed a career year with the Rangers in 2024 (1.17 EA, 33 saves) into a $13 million payday with the Dodgers. Things didn’t go well there, but he was not really needed.
Cubs lose Jeimer Candelario (0.2 WAR)
Replacement: Michael Busch at 1B (2.2 WAR) / Isaac Parades at 3B (0.4 WAR – acquired in mid-season trade)
It’s tricky to evaluate this, as the Cubs had holes at both 3rd and 1st. Morel, Madrigal, Wisdom, Mastrobuoni and Bote all spent time at 3rd before Parades was acquired.
Angels lose Reynaldo Lopez (0.3 WAR) and Lucas Giolito (-0.3 WAR)
Replacements: Jack Kochanowicz (0.6 WAR) and Jose Soriano (1.7 WAR)
This was one of the weirder situations in recent years. The Angels were in the playoff hunt in 2023, and acquired Giolito and Lopez from the White Sox on July 26th. Just over a month later, when they had fallen out of contention, they waived both players (along with Hunter Renfroe, Dominic Leone, Matt Moore and Randal Grichuk) in a cost-savings move.
The looked from within for replacements from the bullpen (Soriano) and minors (Kochanowicz).
Angels lose Hunter Renfroe (1.0 WAR)
Replacements: Zach Neto (1.1 WAR) and Jo Adell (0.2 WAR)
Another casualty of the waiver purge in 2023, Renfroe ended up with the Reds. His replacements in 2024 were both internal.
Rangers lose Jordan Montgomery (1.6 WAR – acquired in mid-season trade)
Replacement: Michael Lorenzen (0.2 WAR)
Montgomery had been great during the World Series run, but went unsigned until after Spring Training by Arizona. His time there has been a disaster, as he had a 6.23 ERA in 2024, and missed 2025 entirely. Technically, he was traded to the Brewers in 2025 with Shelby Miller, just to get him off of the D’Backs books for a few months.
Lorenzen was not a good replacement, and was shipped to the Royals at the trade deadline in 2024.
Orioles lose Jack Flaherty (0.2 WAR – acquired in mid-season trade))
Replacement: Corbin Burnes (see above)
The Orioles went into the rental marker for Starters two straight years, and have no playoff win to show for it. Flaherty went two straight years with being a deadline rental beofre sticking with the Tigers last season.
Dodgers lose Lance Lynn (-0.1 WAR – acquired in mid-season trade))
Replacement: Jack Flaherty (see above)
Conclusions
So, there is no real pattern here. Some teams have signed a replacement at the high end of the free agent pool and others have looked for bargains. Some teams have tried to go the rental route two years in a row. Other teams have tried to look internally.
And there really are not too many comparisons for Kyle Tucker the last couple of years.
Juan Soto was better than Tucker, and the Yankees used their financial muscle to find a replacement in a trade. Ironically, it was the Cubs trade for Tucker that made Bellinger expendable.
The Tyler O’Neill situation might the best case comparison if the Cubs are thinking of using Owen Caissie as Tucker’s replacement. However, Tucker is better than O’Neill, and Roman Anthony (who replaced O’Neill) was somewhat better rated as a prospect than Caissie.
Cubs in 7 
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