The San Diego Padres made an infield depth signing on Friday that could possibly more, as they added former Cleveland Guardians prospect to a minor league deal that almost certainly includes a spring training invite, with the news reported by Tremayne Person of FriarsOnBase.com.
Tucker is a former first-round pick who was Cleveland’s 23rd overall pick in 2020, according to Person, and he has an intriguing backstory. He’s still just 23, but Tucker was released by the Guardians in July of 2024. His suffered from a variety of injuries, and Tucker was never really able to get his career on track. He hit well below .200 in the low minors, hence the reason for his early release.
One thing is distinctly different about Tucker’s situation, however—he spent last year in independent baseball, playing in the Pioneer League for the Ogden Raptors. While there, Tucker seemed to rediscover his talent level, hitting a stellar .323 with a .469 OPB to go with six stolen bases.
This makes the evaluation process for Tucker much tougher. Independent league baseball isn’t the low minors, so there’s no way if knowing those numbers will actually translate. Tucker may fail again, but at least he’s had some success that could change the trajectory of his career.
For a team like the Padres, taking a chance on someone like Tucker makes a lot of sense right now. They’ve signed Korean infielder Sung-Mun Song to a four year deal worth $15 million, but players from Korean baseball are something of a mystery as well, so no one knows how well Song will fare facing major league pitching.
Tucker has at least come up through the US prospect system to become a first round pick, so there’s plenty of tape to work from there, not to mention that the Guardians are an organization with a good reputation for developing and holding onto prospects.
The Padres payroll picture is an integral part of this signing as well. They’ve yet to make any major moves that involved a big spend, with the Song signing and doing what amounts to a one-year deal with starter Micheal King being their sole major moves to date.
If Tucker really has rediscovered his stroke, he would give the Padres some infield options they currently don’t have, including trading off current second baseman Jake Cronenworth his $15 million annual salary. He could also spend some time as a backup for shortstop Xander Bogaerts.