{"id":522848,"date":"2026-01-16T03:48:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T03:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/522848\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T03:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T03:48:14","slug":"kyle-tucker-picks-dodgers-over-mets-blue-jays-in-free-agency-stunner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/522848\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Tucker picks Dodgers over Mets, Blue Jays in free agency stunner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What now?<\/p>\n<p>Where else can Steve Cohen put the $50 million per season that was earmarked for another star outfielder?<\/p>\n<p>Kyle Tucker will not be a Met, choosing the Dodgers and the best shot at a title, a source confirmed,\u00a0over Cohen\u2019s gobs of short-term money and\u00a0long-term stability with the\u00a0Blue Jays. <\/p>\n<p>The deal is for four years and $240 million, The Post\u2019s Jon Heyman reported.<\/p>\n<p>The Mets tried, lurking in the sweepstakes for the best bat of the winter and meeting virtually with him recently. They then offered a deal that would have made Tucker the third-highest paid player in baseball history by average annual value, behind only Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto.<\/p>\n<p>But <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/15\/sports\/mets-offering-fourth-year-for-kyle-tucker-in-shocking-50-million-per-year-pursuit-of-star-free-agent\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">around\u00a0four years and roughly $50 million per<\/a>\u00a0was not enough to pry the former Astro and Cub from the two-time reigning champs and new home of Edwin Diaz.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"37886108\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20251009_mcd_bb6_54.jpg\" alt=\"Chicago Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker (30) reacts after hitting a home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning for game four of the NLDS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Wrigley Field.\" class=\"wp-image-37886108\"  \/>Kyle Tucker reacts after hitting a home run in the seventh inning of the Cubs\u2019 win over the Brewers in Game 4 of the NLDS at Wrigley Field. David Banks-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>The Mets are left needing at least one and maybe two outfielders and a starting pitcher, at minimum, during a winter that has been far more about subtractions (Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Edwin D\u00edaz, Jeff McNeil) than additions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Without Tucker\u2019s money on the books, David Stearns &amp; Co. can pivot to the outfield and rotation market through free agency or trades.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Cody Bellinger is the best outfielder available, though he is seeking the kind of long-term deal the Mets are hoping to avoid. <\/p>\n<p>There are several center fielders who theoretically could be pried through trade, including the Astros\u2019 Jake Meyers, White Sox\u2019s Luis Robert Jr. and Rockies\u2019 Brenton Doyle.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The best starter available in free agency is Framber Valdez, and perhaps the Mets would swoop in if his market does not develop as well as he hopes. <\/p>\n<p>There are plenty of other starters who could be moved through trade such as the Royals\u2019 Kris Bubic, Nationals\u2019 MacKenzie Gore, Brewers\u2019 Freddy Peralta, Padres\u2019 Nick Pivetta and Twins\u2019 Joe Ryan.<\/p>\n<p>The Mets, who have replaced their core by bringing in Marcus Semien, Jorge Polanco, Devin Williams and Luke Weaver thus far, remain a good team, Stearns insisted this week.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u201cWe have elite talent at the top of our major league roster. We\u2019ve got a very good farm system. And we\u2019ve got a very good present-day major league team as we sit here today that\u2019s going to get better before we get to Opening Day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What now? Where else can Steve Cohen put the $50 million per season that was earmarked for another&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,29,57,101,4,2046,37650,1690,61,2548,4203,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-522848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-kyle-tucker","10":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","11":"tag-mets","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-mlb-free-agency","14":"tag-mlb-hot-stove","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-mets","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkmets","19":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115902737038757199","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522848","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=522848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}