Jake Mintz & Jordan Shusterman react to the late breaking news Thursday evening that former Chicago Cubs OF Kyle Tucker is signing a 4-year, $240 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.<\/p>\n
Check out the full conversation on the \u201cBaseball Bar-B-Cast\u201d podcast – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, YouTube<\/a> or wherever you listen.<\/a><\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n View more<\/p>\n Video Transcript<\/p>\n Kyle Tucker, the market’s consensus top free agent this winter, has signed a four-year, $240 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.<\/p>\n The who, by the way, For those of you who don’t know, won the last two World Series titles.<\/p>\n The deal includes opt-outs after the second and third years.<\/p>\n Just in case Kyle Tucker doesn’t want to make $60 million in the years after.<\/p>\n That.<\/p>\n This is a shocking conclusion to the Kyle Tucker free agency extravaganza.<\/p>\n The shockingness of it comes from a couple different avenues.<\/p>\n I think we can begin in a number of places.<\/p>\n I, this broke.<\/p>\n Like, 15, 20 minutes ago, and so this is raw for Jordan and I.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n So, I’m trying to parse my thoughts here in real time.<\/p>\n And I think the reason…<\/p>\n There are really two reasons I’m shocked.<\/p>\n I think.<\/p>\n One is just, the number is bonkers.<\/p>\n Sixty million for a player is a new frontier, right?<\/p>\n The previous AAV (average annual value) record was Juan Soto at $51 million.<\/p>\n Million.<\/p>\n And because this is a short-term, High-money deal, like, Juan Soto’s a better player than Kyle Tucker.<\/p>\n Kyle Tucker would tell you that, probably, right?<\/p>\n So for Kyle Tucker to be the highest player in the history of our sport.<\/p>\n That is shocking and odd and will take time.<\/p>\n To wrap my head around.<\/p>\n The other element of this that is shocking To me, someone finally took the Dodgers’ short-term.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n High-value deal that they seem to offer to every free agent every year.<\/p>\n Every top free agent.<\/p>\n And in most years, it’s like, Oh, well, like, even with Soto, right?<\/p>\n It was like, Oh, well, the Dodgers were lurking on a short term, and yet, Here it is.<\/p>\n Um, I think people are understandably Frustrated and confused, I’m one of those people.<\/p>\n I don’t know if I’m frustrated.<\/p>\n I don’t want to say I’m frustrated.<\/p>\n Yeah.<\/p>\n I’m certainly confused about how I feel.<\/p>\n Yeah, I think that’s, I think that’s fine, and as you said.<\/p>\n Like, this is, this is real fresh.<\/p>\n Um, and while, We’ve seen the Dodgers sign a lot of big, famous, good baseball players However many years, this is one where it’s like a, A different kind of overkill.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n I think in this case, A lot of it, I think, is informed by how this unfolded with Kyle Tucker.<\/p>\n Right?<\/p>\n It’s not just.<\/p>\n Yeah.<\/p>\n That, “Oh, they now have this other good player.”<\/p>\n It’s that we were kind of lulled into A sense of, well, surely the Blue Jays are the team that I think fits him best, that is willing to give him a long-term offer.<\/p>\n If he wants it to be a little more low-key, yes, he would.<\/p>\n Of course, sign this huge contract to go to Toronto, but it’s Vlad’s team.<\/p>\n And he just fits there, and, like, he can have, you know, He can have spring training in Florida, like, near his home.<\/p>\n All of that is great.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Or the Mets are going to offer him so much money over a short term that it’s going to be tough to say no.<\/p>\n And we got reports about that offer earlier this week.<\/p>\n Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n And what did we hear?<\/p>\n Fifty million!<\/p>\n Oh, my God, they’re gonna give him 50M.<\/p>\n They’re going to give…<\/p>\n They’re going to give Kyle Tucker the s- Essentially the same amount of money as Juan Soto.<\/p>\n At least in the short term?<\/p>\n That’s nuts!<\/p>\n What are the Mets… Oh, my God.<\/p>\n And then you start to think, “Man, I guess, that could be tough to turn down if the Blue Jays are only offering $8,300, or or whatever.”<\/p>\n Again, we’re talking about ridiculous money here.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n But there was never a clear understanding of where the Dodgers were going Go.<\/p>\n It was, as we had talked to Jack Harris, You know, on this pod recently, he was like, “Yes, they, They want to do the short-term and high AAV.<\/p>\n But what we also talked about with Jack is how The Dodgers’ financials, because of Ohtani, and all the success that they’ve had, Because of Ohtani, among other things, they are just operating at a different than everybody else.<\/p>\n Yes.<\/p>\n With the Ohtani deferrals, With Ohtani only making $2 million in annual salary.<\/p>\n They are just in such a situation of financial strength that, Like, we had no sense of the ceiling for what they were willing to offer.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n They clearly, unlike the Mets, whose offer was somehow leaked.<\/p>\n I don’t know if that was from the Mets or if that was from Tucker’s side.<\/p>\n Like, that came out from multiple sources telling us what the Mets offered.<\/p>\n At no point did that happen with the Dodgers.<\/p>\n At no point did we have any idea.<\/p>\n We just thought they were lurking.<\/p>\n They were in the background.<\/p>\n Lurking with this, which is taking Steve Cohen’s offer.<\/p>\n The richest owner in the sport, and just you know.<\/p>\n Smacking it out of the way and saying, “Nice try.”<\/p>\n “Get on our level.”<\/p>\n That is what it’s like.<\/p>\n “Oh, boy.”<\/p>\n Okay, we really are…<\/p>\n They really are just, in their own universe.”<\/p>\n They are in their own universe.<\/p>\n