Cubs Extend Qualifying Offer to Kyle Tucker

The Cubs have extended right fielder Kyle Tucker a qualifying offer, which is worth $22.025 million for 2026, and he has until 4pm ET on November 18 to accept or reject it. He will obviously reject the offer in favor of a much larger deal in free agency, though the Cubs don’t figure to be very active in that market. It’s been clear for some time now that the club moved on from the idea of re-signing Tucker, so they will instead pivot to replacement options and pocket a free draft pick.

Because the Cubs did not exceed the competitive balance tax threshold in 2025, their compensatory pick for losing Tucker will come after Competitive Balance Round B. That puts the pick somewhere in the mid-to-late-70s range depending on how many other teams are awarded picks for losing players who rejected QOs.