Midway through the season, how one GM reflected on the Kyle Tucker offseason trade from the Astros to the Cubs.

Cubs' Craig Counsell Announces Kyle Tucker Update After Absence From Lineup originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Kyle Tucker is in his first season with the Chicago Cubs after a blockbuster offseason trade that concluded his seven-year stint with the Houston Astros.

Two words. That’s all it took for Kyle Tucker to deflate any hope Chicago Cubs fans may have had that a winning season would be enough to keep him in Chicago for the long haul. When the Cubs made the stunning trade for Tucker last December,

The Chicago Cubs took a big and somewhat risky swing this past winter and it has paid off. The team decided to deal Cody Bellinger to the New York Yankees and bring in Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros as a replacement, trading away players with several years of control ahead on their contracts for the pending free agent.

This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter, with David Adler filling in for this edition. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Cubs' outfielder Kyle Tucker wasn't interested in discussing his impending free agency during the All-Star break.

Tucker (knee) is batting second and playing right field Friday against the White Sox. Tucker fouled a ball off his right knee Tuesday and sat out Wednesday's contest due to the issue. However, he's back in the starting nine for Friday's series opener. The 28-year-old is slashing .275/.383/.493 in 441 plate appearances this season.

While both sides seek the perfect compromise, they need to look no further than the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros for the ideal trade. These two teams pulled off the perfect trade in December, and seven months later would each do it again in a heartbeat.

The division lead is down to one game after Friday's lackluster 11-0 loss in the Bronx, but no one around the Cubs is panicking.

Tucker was asked about his Cubs future over the All-Star break and, predictably, he kept things vague. In doing so, he basically told fans what they already knew: that an extension this late in the season, with such a robust free agent market awaiting him, is never going to happen.