As the New Year approaches, the outer star Kyle Tucker is reaching a rare milestone as a free agent this winter. Juan Soto it was signed just before the Winter Meetings last year, two years ago Shohei Ohtani signed with the Dodgers shortly thereafter. Aaron is the judge signed with the Yankees on the last day of the Winter Meetings three years ago, too Carlos Correa they agreed to $300MM deals with both the Giants and Mets in December 2021, though both of those deals ultimately fell through.
If Tucker is going to follow the trend of top free agents finding a new home in December, he’s running out of time to do so. It’s been an unusually quiet free agency for a late season superstar. While any program would do well to add someone who has hit .277/.365/.514 over the past five seasons, few teams have actually been linked to Tucker directly. Some of that may be due to the lack of interest from teams that know Tucker best. While Ohtani, Judge, and Soto were all pursued by the teams they were freely leaving, that is not the case for Tucker.
The Cubs have made it abundantly clear this offseason that they have no intention of reuniting with Tucker, preferring instead to study the high-end swing market and go with a youngster like this one. Moises Ballesteros again Owen Caissie replacing Tucker’s big lefty bat in the lineup. Tucker’s previous team, the Astros, never spent anywhere near what it would take to bring Tucker back to Houston in a free agent deal and it seems unlikely that he will start now. While both clubs’ lack of interest in Tucker appears to be more about skepticism about long-term deals than anything to do with Tucker specifically, there still needs to be two meaningful matches outside of his market.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t interest in Tucker, of course. The Blue Jays reportedly invited Tucker to their Spring Training camp earlier this month and have been the team’s most frequent contact with the outfielder. That being said, Toronto is also known to be interested in keeping the midfielder Bo Bichette. After signing Dylan Cease last month, the club may not have the desire to add two more megadeals to the books. The Orioles are in the same boat, as they’ve clearly been linked to Tucker multiple times but now seem to be slowly exiting that market after delivering. Taylor Ward again Pete Alonso.
The other guys speculating have a few clear obstacles to signing Tucker but they come with their caveats. The Dodgers have room in their outfield and were linked to Tucker earlier in the winter but have expressed concern about the aging nature of their roster, have a steady stream of interesting outfield prospects, and seem to prefer to go slower this winter than in recent years. That doesn’t mean they won’t sign Tucker, but it seems like they might only be interested in him on a short-term deal (or perhaps following a trade Teoscar Hernandezalthough that seems unlikely).
The teams in New York seem to be in the same boat as Los Angeles. The Yankees pursued Tucker on the trade market last winter and have room in their roster for another big bat, but they seem to be focused on. Cody Bellinger at the moment. Even if they don’t miss Bellinger, General Brian Cashman expressed concern about their left-handed system. The Mets, on the other hand, have eliminated a spot in their outfield mix when working Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers. With owner Steve Cohen’s willingness to spend, the star’s biggest contract won’t be completely outsourced. With that, baseball president David Stearns has largely shied away from long-term deals. While exceptions were made in the pursuit of Soto and Yoshinobu Yamamotoboth of those stars were three years younger than the 29-year-old Tucker.
It’s always the case that a surprise team steps up and makes a big offer, but there aren’t many obvious candidates for that kind of bid looking around the league. The Giants are known to be interested in adding to their outfield, but they recently acquired a large contract over the summer during a trade. Rafael Devers and may not want to add Tucker to a book that already includes Devers, Willy Adams, Matt Chapmanagain Jung Hoo Lee long term. The Phillies seem like they’re even at times, but their matchup is Kyle Schwarber and their signing of Adolis Garcia makes that hard to see now. The Tigers once spent at a high level with big deals on young players Miguel Cabrerabut I didn’t do that under Chris Ilitch even if I was competitive. The Angels have made big splashes in free agency but may not want to add another big contract as they negotiate to buy a player they brought in from their last draft.
Where do MLBTR readers think Tucker will end up? Will the Blue Jays make a move for him, even if it means turning down Bichette? Will he be the latest superstar to fall into Andrew Friedman’s lap in free agency? Will the New York team step up? Or could an unexpected competitor step in and re-sign him? Have your say in the poll below:
