With contract expiring, Cubs' Kyle Tucker says he's not sure how Guerrero's deal affects his future

Sport

With contract expiring, Cubs' Kyle Tucker says he's not sure how Guerrero's deal affects his future

2025-04-08 11:04 Last Updated At：11:12

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Tucker was well aware of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s massive contract. He just wasn't sure how it would impact him.

A day after Guerrero agreed to a $500 million, 14-year contract with Toronto that begins in 2026, Tucker insisted he is focusing more on the immediate future than whether he will remain with the Chicago Cubs after this season.

“I'm sure he loves playing in Toronto,” Tucker said before Monday's 7-0 win over Texas. “It's great for him. I mean, everyone's a little different. Right now, I'm here to play this year. I'm excited to get out again and play tonight, just kind of see where everything goes after that.”

Guerrero's contract, which is pending a physical, sets a high bar for other players with expiring deals, such as Tucker. It's the third largest in total dollars behind outfielder Juan Soto’s $765 million, 15-year contract with the New York Mets that started this season and two-way star Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million, 10-year agreement with the Los Angeles Dodgers that began last year and is heavily deferred.

Guerrero, the son of a Hall of Famer, is playing on a $28.5 million, one-year contract after avoiding arbitration. The four-time All-Star had said he wouldn't negotiate a long-term deal once he reported to spring training. But talks with his agent continued.

Tucker was asked if he had set a deadline for the Cubs.

“I haven't thought about it that much,” he said. “I'm just trying to come out here and play. ... I'm just here to play baseball. I just let the other stuff fall where it is and see what happens.”

The Cubs acquired the well-rounded Tucker from Houston in December, hoping the three-time All-Star and one-time Gold Glove outfielder can lift a team that finished with an 83-79 record each of the past two years. But it's not clear if this will be a long-term arrangement.

Tucker avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $16.5 million, one-year contract. He figures to be in for a huge deal, whether he agrees to one with the Cubs or signs with another team.

Tucker is off to a good start in Chicago. He is batting .327 with five homers and National League-leading 16 RBIs after going 2 for 5 and driving in a run against Texas.

Tucker took National League Player of the Week honors on Monday, following an impressive performance against the Athletics and San Diego Padres. He combined to go 9 for 23 with three homers and eight RBIs as the Cubs won five of six games.

“It's been fun watching Kyle kind of at the peak of who he is as an offensive player,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He's just so locked in from pitch one and ready to do damage, and at the same time spitting on the stuff he doesn't want to swing at. It's been fun to watch. He's had a great week, no doubt about it.”

Tucker is enjoying his time with the Cubs. He called the atmosphere at Wrigley Field “spectacular" and said fans “come out and support their team no matter what.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Memorials begin for some killed in Dominican Republic nightclub collapse as death toll reaches 221

2025-04-11 01:28 Last Updated At：01:32

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Memorials were taking place Thursday for a merengue star and others killed when a cement roof collapsed at a popular nightclub in the Dominican Republic, as the number of dead surged to 221 and crews completed their search for bodies.

Mourners clad in black and white streamed into Santo Domingo’s National Theater, where the body of Rubby Pérez lay inside a closed coffin. Pérez had been performing on stage at the packed Jet Set club early Tuesday when dust began falling from the ceiling and, seconds later, the roof caved.

President Luis Abinader and first lady Raquel Arbaje arrived at the theater and stood beside Pérez's coffin for several minutes. Some mourners doubled over in tears as a recording of Pérez singing the national anthem played. Renowned Dominican musician Juan Luis Guerra was among those gathered to pay their respects.

Pérez, 69, had turned to music after a car accident left him unable to pursue his dream of becoming a professional baseball player. He was known for hits including “Volveré," which he sang with Wilfrido Vargas's orchestra, and “Buscando tus besos" as a solo artist.

Just blocks from the memorial for Pérez, heavy equipment began withdrawing from the site where Jet Set once stood and rescue crews packed up their equipment.

Meanwhile, a group of prosecutors arrived.

It is still unclear what caused the roof to collapse or when the building was last inspected. The government has said it will launch a thorough investigation, and the club’s owners have said they are cooperating with authorities.

Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the Center of Emergency Operations, broke down as he addressed reporters.

“Thank you, God, because today we accomplished the most difficult task I’ve had in 20 years,” he said, moving the microphone away from his face as he cried. Other officials patted him on the back as he continued, “Please forgive me,” before passing the microphone to an army official.

Officials said 189 people were rescued alive from the rubble. More than 200 were injured, with 24 of them still hospitalized, including eight in critical condition.

“If the trauma is too great, there’s not a lot of time” left to save patients in that condition, said Health Minister Víctor Atallah. He and other doctors said some of the injured suffered fractures to the skull, femur and pelvis.

Many people have been anxiously waiting for news of their loved ones, growing frustrated with the drip-drip of information provided by hospitals and the country’s forensic institute.

At least 146 bodies have been identified, authorities said Thursday.

María Luisa Taveras told TV station Noticias SIN that she was looking for her sister.

“We have gone everywhere they have told us,” she said, her voice breaking.

Taveras said the family has spread out, with a relative stationed at each hospital and at the National Institute of Forensic Pathology. Dozens of people waited at the institute Thursday, wearing face masks and complaining about the smell as they demanded the release of their loved ones' bodies.

“The odor is unbearable,” said Wendy Sosa, who has been waiting since Wednesday morning for the body of her cousin, 61-year-old Nilka Curiel González. Sosa told The Associated Press by phone that the situation there was “chaotic,” and that officials had set up a refrigerated container to handle the volume of bodies being delivered.

She wept as she described her cousin as gracious, authentic, and “very empathetic."

Victims identified so far include former MLB players Octavio Dotel and Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera; and Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the northwestern province of Montecristi whose brother is seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star Nelson Cruz.

Dotel will be buried Thursday in Santo Domingo. Hundreds of people attended his wake on Wednesday, including Hall of Famer David Ortiz, formerly of the Boston Red Sox. Ortiz said the number of people who attended Dotel’s wake spoke volumes.

“He was a person whom everyone loved,” Ortiz told reporters. “It’s very hard, very hard, truly.”

MLB Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez attended another wake Thursday.

“There are no words to describe the pain we are all feeling,” said Martínez, adding that he knew more than 50 of those who died. “Life is but a breath.”

Also killed was a retired United Nations official; saxophonist Luis Solís, who was playing onstage when the roof fell; New York-based fashion designer Martín Polanco; the son and daughter-in-law of the minister of public works; the brother of the vice minister of the Ministry of Youth; and three employees of Grupo Popular, a financial services company, including the president of AFP Popular Bank and his wife.

More than 20 victims came from Haina, Rubby Pérez's hometown, just southwest of Santo Domingo.

On Thursday, the governor held a communal wake, setting up 10 stands for coffins beneath a banner that read: “Haina bids farewell to her beloved children with immense sorrow.”

Among the mourners was Juancho Guillén, who lost his wife three months ago and whose brother, sister and brother-in-law died at Jet Set.

“This family is in shock, is devastated," he told Noticias SIN. "We’re practically dead too.”

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.