{"id":516889,"date":"2026-01-12T16:36:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T16:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/516889\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T16:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T16:36:16","slug":"morning-briefing-kyle-tucker-watch-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/516889\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Briefing: Kyle Tucker Watch Continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, Mets fans! An MMO poll found that two out of three Mets fans agree on something.<\/p>\n

A source told former Mets GM Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio that the Mets, Blue Jays and Dodgers have each met with Kyle Tucker<\/a> in person or via Zoom in an effort to recruit the four-time All-Star. The three clubs are considered the main competition for the 28-year-old\u2019s services.<\/p>\n

In other hot stove news, the Mets might be best positioned to trade for Freddy Peralta<\/a>, according to an analysis by Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic.<\/a> The Brewers ideally want a young, MLB-ready pitcher in return for their ace. Rosenthal and Sammon speculated that the Mets could offer Jonah Tong<\/a>, Brandon Sproat<\/a> or Christian Scott<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Braves, Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers also have young arms that may interest Milwaukee. Peralta will earn $8 million in 2026 and then become a free agent. In considering a deal, the Brewers are factoring in that if they hold on to Peralta this season and he leaves after rejecting a qualifying offer, they would receive draft pick compensation.<\/p>\n

It would be a dramatic twist to the offseason if the Mets ended up with Tucker and Peralta. Who doesn\u2019t love a dramatic twist?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Latest Mets News<\/p>\n

Luisangel Acu\u00f1a<\/a> cooled off Sunday. A day after becoming the first to hit four homers<\/a> in a Venezuelan Winter League game, he went 0-for-5 with a walk, two RBIs and a stolen base.<\/p>\n

Acu\u00f1a has been tearing up the VWL even before the outburst. He entered Sunday slashing .282\/.397\/.542 with eight home runs and 32 RBIs in 39 games. He had also recorded three triples, seven doubles, scored 41 runs and stole 12 bases in 16 attempts.<\/p>\n

Latest MLB News<\/p>\n

Rosenthal<\/a> reports that $70 million of Alex Bregman<\/a>\u2018s five-year, $175 million contract with the Cubs will be deferred. His deal is expected to be in the $30-$31 million per year range. Rosenthal also reported that after agent Scott Boras helped secure a five-year deal for the 32-year-old Bregman, he could be looking for a seven-year deal for his 30-year-old client Cody Bellinger<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Yankees, Rosenthal reported, don\u2019t want to go that long, and Boras \u201cis not going to relent until later in the offseason, if he does at all.\u201d The Mets have been linked to Bellinger in reports this offseason.<\/p>\n

An MMO poll<\/a> on X over the weekend asked if you could only acquire one player, who would it be among Peralta, Tucker, Framber Valdez<\/a> or Bellinger? The results: Tucker (66 percent), Peralta (15 percent) Bellinger (11 percent) and Valdez (7 percent). There were 1,522 responses.<\/p>\n

The Reds signed free agent reliever Pierce Johnson<\/a>, per Jon Heyman<\/a> of MLB Network. Johnson, 34, went 3-3 with a 3.05 ERA and 1.20 WHIP for the Braves last year. He struck out 59 in 59 innings pitched.<\/p>\n

Latest on MMO<\/p>\n

James Villani recaps<\/a> Acu\u00f1a\u2019s big night.<\/p>\n

John Wilson points his statistical spotlight<\/a> on Luke Weaver<\/a>\u2018s durability. He threw 64 2\/3 innings last season, which would have ranked second on the Mets last season behind Edwin D\u00edaz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On This Date in Mets History<\/p>\n

1972: The Mets select catcher Ron Hodges<\/a> in the second round of the draft. He plays his entire 12-year career (1973-1984) with the Mets, hitting 19 home runs and slashing .240\/.342\/.322 in 666 games.<\/p>\n

Born on This Date: Luis Ayala<\/a> (1978), Jorge Velandia<\/a> (1975), Mike Marshall<\/a> (1960), Randy Jones<\/a> (1950).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning, Mets fans! An MMO poll found that two out of three Mets fans agree on something.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2290],"tags":[72,5,753,29,2186],"class_list":{"0":"post-516889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baseball","8":"tag-alex-bregman","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-freddy-peralta","11":"tag-kyle-tucker","12":"tag-luisangel-acuna"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115883107070891784","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}