Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer never wants to look too far ahead when navigating trades. At the winter meetings this past week, Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins made clear that the Cubs are focused on working to improve the roster through trades rather than exploring upgrades in free agency.

There’s competition, there’s medical processes, there’s so many things that go into it.” The Cubs went into the winter meetings Monday with plenty of feelers out to potential trade partners. And three days of baseball executives cloistered in Dallas helped expedite the process.

DALLAS — The Chicago Cubs are currently discussing a potential trade with the Houston Astros that would send Kyle Tucker to Wrigley Field, where he could transform their offense and raise his profile toward a superstar level.