Kyle Tucker Declines Cubs’ Qualifying Offer

As expected, Kyle Tucker has declined the Qualifying Offer and will be a free agent this offseason. If he signs with a team other than the Chicago Cubs, the Cubs will receive a compensatory draft pick in the 2026 MLB First-Year Player Draft.

Final accounting on qualifying offers, per sources:

Trent Grisham (Yankees), Gleyber Torres (Tigers), Brandon Woodruff (Brewers) and Shota Imanaga (Cubs) all accepted the one-year, $22.025 million contract to return for 2026.

The nine other players offered rejected the deal.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 18, 2025

Tucker’s season with the Cubs was quite interesting, with both positives and negatives along the way. Nonetheless, a return to Chicago is extremely unlikely, although it can’t be ruled out until he officially signs elsewhere.

He will likely seek a large contract, which the Cubs will probably be unwilling to offer for two simple reasons: they don’t spend much money in free agency (depending on your definition of “a lot”), and his inconsistency raises valid concerns about the value of his services over the next several years.