With Winter Meetings having come and gone, and as the MLB offseason approaches its six-week mark, the free agent market’s biggest fish remains unsigned: four-time All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker.
You have to think that the Philadelphia Phillies are out on Tucker after pledging $150 million to Kyle Schwarber this week. Tucker’s team from last season, the Chicago Cubs, have never expressed that much interest in retaining him.
That leaves the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, and New York Yankees as the most likely destinations for Tucker, at least among the teams that have repeatedly been linked to him. The San Francisco Giants and New York Mets are said to be in play, too.
On Friday, more Tucker speculation dropped, this time via the pen of Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly, who made an interesting prediction about how Tucker’s free agency will end. Kelly surmised that Tucker will sign with the Yankees on a 10-year, $360 million deal with a player opt out available after ’29.
“Things have been surprisingly quiet on Kyle Tucker,” Kelly wrote. “The Yankees remain an interesting potential landing spot for Tucker, who seemingly would thrive playing 81 games a season at Yankee Stadium.”
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“He would likely have to shift to left field, with Aaron Judge in right field and (Trent) Grisham hoping to rebound defensively in center field,” Kelly continued. “But there’s no evidence at this point that the Yankees are hell bent at this point to try to land Tucker, as opposed to just bringing back Cody Bellinger, who does come with more positional flexibility.”
Yankees GM Brian Cashman has repeatedly said this offseason that he’s prioritizing Bellinger. One report from The New York Post’s Jon Heyman even suggested that Tucker is Cashman’s “backup plan” if Bellinger ends up somewhere else besides the Bronx.
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Interestingly, the Mets have been linked to Bellinger. Kelly speculated that the Mets might not want to give Tucker a massive deal after just paying Juan Soto $765 million last offseason. That would suggest that New York’s front office prefers Bellinger, who’s slated to receive a lower total dollar figure than Tucker on the market.
Kelly also indicated that the Dodgers are still a suitor for Tucker, but that they’d prefer to give him a shorter contract with high AAV, which might be different than the long-term contract that Tucker reportedly seeks.
It still feels like the Blue Jays make the most sense for Tucker, especially if Bellinger returns to the Yankees. Kelly’s prediction is surprising because there aren’t a lot of people out there right now who are talking about Tucker ending up in pinstripes.
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Featured image via Klement Neitzel/Imagn Images
