The Chicago Cubs are "a strong player" to acquire outfielder Kyle Tucker in a trade with the Houston Astros, Joel Sherman reported for the New York Post.

The New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies have also expressed interest in Tucker, according to Sherman.

Tucker missed almost three months with a shin fracture last season but still batted .289 with 23 home runs and 49 RBI in 78 appearances for the Astros. He is projected to make $16.7 million in his final year under arbitration by Spotrac.

The acquisition of Tucker would help the Cubs fill their outfield should the club succeed in a rumored goal to trade one or both of Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki this offseason.

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer recently indicated that the club has discussed increasing spending on offense after prioritizing defense with players like Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong, per Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic.

"Especially up the middle, when you have Nico, Dansby and Pete, a lot of our salary and WAR is wrapped in our defense," Hoyer said, per Mooney and Sharma. "It's a fair (question) and something we talk about, for sure."

Should the Cubs decide to add more offense in 2025, Tucker would be a strong candidate.

He recorded one home run per 14.7 plate appearances in 2024, ranking third in efficiency only to Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani over his shortened season, according to the MLB Network.

Tucker's home run totals would have ranked him as the Cubs' leader in each of the prior three seasons, and his 23 homers during his injury-shortened 2024 campaign would have ranked him second only to Ian Happ.

The Cubs have built one of the most well-stocked farm systems in the MLB and are ready to begin contending. Manager Craig Counsell said in September that the Cubs "should be trying to build 90-win teams" going forward.

Adding Tucker could represent a step toward that goal, but there is no guarantee the Astros will decide to trade him at all.

MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported on Monday that the Astros would be "comfortable" with Tucker playing out his contract in Houston.

That choice would not be out of character for the Astros, who kept Alex Bregman on an expiring contract last season rather than seek a trade for the All-Star third baseman.

When telling reporters last December that the club wasn't interested in trading Bregman, general manager Dana Brown said that Phillies were "trying to win here."

Brown was slightly less bullish when discussing the possibility of trading players like Tucker this offseason. He said earlier this week that the Astros would "listen on anybody," according to Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle.

The general manager added, however, that the Astros didn't want to make deals that wouldn't help them win the AL West and return to the postseason. The Cubs could potentially use their prospect pool in order to construct an offer that matches that criteria.