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Kyle Tucker hasn’t played the Cardinals much. But he’s already torn them up quite a bit.

In just eight career games against ӣ����Ƶ — four apiece with the Astros and Cubs — he’s tallied 12 hits and 10 RBI, including a 447-foot moonshot in June 2023. Last week, Tucker collected five hits in a four-game series against ӣ����Ƶ, including a 409-foot home run.

For an encore, Tucker torched his former team in Houston. He’s played a major part in the Cubs’ surge to the top of the National League Central.

“It’s a team sport,” Tucker said. “I’m just trying to do my part.”

But how long will he continue to do his part for the Cubs?

The question of whether Tucker will stay in Chicago has lingered over the Cubs for most of the season. Tucker, who was traded from Houston in December, will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. , a number only Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani have surpassed in free agency.

So far, Tucker has done his part to earn a colossal contract. He was named an All-Star starter Wednesday, making it four straight Midsummer Classic nods. He’ll start alongside teammate and fellow superstar outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.

There’s not much Tucker can’t do at the plate. He’s on pace to set career-highs in hits, home runs, stolen bases and walks. He’s top 10 in the majors in hits, WAR, on-base percentage, OPS and walks. Along with high production, he doesn’t swing at many outside pitches (98th percentile chase rate, 95th percentile walk rate) and doesn’t strike out much, either (87th percentile strikeout rate).

In fact, his elite ability to reach base while also limiting strikeouts earned him a comparison to Soto from Cubs skipper Craig Counsell.

“He does the thing that’s the most important thing in baseball as a hitter … the strike zone control is exceptional,” Counsell said during the Cubs swing through ӣ����Ƶ in late June. “Second, he’s able to square up a lot of pitches in all areas of the strike zone, so there’s no real type of pitch, no real type of pitcher that is a weakness for him.”

In less than half a calendar year, Tucker has become one of the most beloved athletes in Chicago. The Cubs are making a stellar case for Tucker to re-sign, as they clinched their best record through 81 games (48-33) since 2021, and they’re on-track for a playoff berth in a full season for the first time since 2018.

“Our fans come out and support us every single day, whether it’s pretty cold or super hot like it was the past couple of days,” Tucker said June 23. “Everything that they have to offer there, it makes for a really good environment to be around. So it’s been a lot of fun so far.”

But Tucker might leave Chi-Town this offseason if the Cubs don’t break the bank … and historical precedent, too.

The largest free agent contract the Cubs have ever given out was to Jason Heyward, who signed an eight-year, $184 deal in December 2015.

But the Cubs seem hesitant about spending heaps of money on singular players. On Tuesday, president Jed Hoyer in regards to Tucker’s looming contract extension. Before the 2023 season, owner Tom Ricketts .

Prior to this season, his tone didn’t seem to change.

“Some of those contracts are obviously pretty large,” Ricketts . “$765 million over 15 years for Juan Soto. I mean, our family paid $800 million for a perpetuity of the Cubs. When you think about it, it’s kind of crazy.

“I’m open-minded to it,” Ricketts continued. “But you always have to remember that you get to spend every dollar once, and you might feel great about a 15-year contract for the first five years. The last 10 years might be pretty rough. You just don’t know, so there’s always a trade-off and a balance there.”

If Ricketts is concerned about investing that much money into one player, the following could be considered: would the Cubs rather have Tucker or the three players they traded away for him (Isaac Paredes, Cam Smith and Hayden Wesneski)?

There’s a compelling argument for the latter. Paredes is a fringe All-Star candidate, while Smith has been one of the top rookies in Major League Baseball so far. Before undergoing Tommy John surgery in May, Wesneski made six starts for Houston, and he didn’t allow more than four earned runs in a single game.

But with the kind of year Tucker is having, it’s hard to argue wanting those players over him.

Being open-minded is easier preached than practiced. The Cubs have spent big before in recent years: they outbid the Braves for Dansby Swanson in 2022, offering him a contract $77 million richer than Atlanta’s.

But this offseason will be a whole new beast for Ricketts, Hoyer & Co. Plus, next offseason will feature more cornerstones having their contracts expire: Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Nico Hoerner and Jameson Taillon are all set to be UFAs in 2027.

Should Tucker keep playing well, calls for the Cubs to re-sign him will only grow louder. The Cubs’ championship window hasn’t been this open in a long time. They also haven’t had a player like Tucker in a long time, either. The Cardinals have felt the brunt of his bat quite often, and on Fourth of July weekend, they could very well see even more fireworks when Tucker comes to bat.

Chatter surrounding Tucker’s future likely won’t stop. But Tucker remains in the present, even with a half-billion dollar question hanging overhead.