Juan Soto or Kyle Tucker? MLB analysts weigh on top offseason acquisition

All-Star outfielders Juan Soto and Kyle Tucker are two of the biggest stars to have switched teams in the offseason. While Soto signed a record deal with the New York Mets, Tucker was traded to the Chicago Cubs by the Houston Astros.

Although Soto joined the Mets on the back of a career year with the New York Yankees, it was Tucker who hit the ground running for his new team at the start of the season.

With the Mets and Cubs clashing for their series opener on Friday, former players turned MLB analysts Ryan Dempster and Kevin Millar weighed in on the better offseason acquisition between Juan Soto and Kyle Tucker.

Dempster picked Tucker, saying:

"That's a good question, because if you would ask this like, a couple weeks ago, the obvious answer was Kyle Tucker. But Juan Soto sure has started tearing the cover off. I'm gonna go with Kyle Tucker and I like this pickup. This guy has been exactly as advertised.

""Look at the numbers across the board on par for what he's going to do for the season. He walks, he's got control of the strike zone, right-hander as he hits left-handers, and he's been exactly that piece in the middle of the lineup that the Cubs needed. I think value to their team, he is probably as important as a piece as we saw this offseason switch teams."

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Former World Series winner Millar went with Soto over Tucker, saying:

"I could just say Juan Sotoebecause you've added this huge, huge contract player, so it kind of puts all of that on Juan Soto, which he's able to handle. I think he does as good a job as anybody in handling moments.

"It's just kind of likeehe still plays this game as a kid and has fun. He's on the bigger stage he loves it out. And yes, the contract comes with the territory, but as he heats up, I'm gonna have to say that 1-2-3 punch with Lindor and Soto and Pete, he's a huge factor of making that 1-2-3 punch go."

Juan Soto and Kyle Tucker go deep in Mets-Cubs series opener

While the Mets dominated the Cubs at Wrigley Field in Friday's series opener, Juan Soto and Kyle Tucker lived up to their numbers. Tucker struck a solo home run, his tenth of the season, at the top of the fifth inning to put Chicago on the board.

Soto fired back instantly with his eighth home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth to restore the Mets' five-run lead in the game with a 6-1 scoreline.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash