{"id":536871,"date":"2026-01-25T00:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T00:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/536871\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T00:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T00:00:18","slug":"he-wanted-toronto-whit-merrifield-reveals-kyle-tucker-preferred-blue-jays-before-dodgers-240m-offer-flipped-the-decision-mlb-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/536871\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHe wanted Toronto\u201d: Whit Merrifield reveals Kyle Tucker preferred Blue Jays before Dodgers $240M offer flipped the decision | MLB News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\u201cHeWhit Merrifield reveals Kyle Tucker preferred Blue Jays before Dodgers $240M offer flipped the decision (Image via Getty) Kyle Tucker made headlines on Wednesday when the Los Angeles Dodgers signed him to a massive four-year, $240 million deal. The contract includes two opt-out clauses after years two and three, giving the star outfielder full control of his future. Right away, the deal sparked loud talk across Major League Baseball. Some fans cheered the move. Others questioned the Dodgers\u2019 growing payroll and luxury tax pressure.But behind the numbers sits a quieter story. Kyle Tucker did not start with Los Angeles as his top choice. According to a former Toronto Blue Jays player, Tucker truly wanted to play in Toronto. The Blue Jays made a strong push, offering a long-term deal worth $350 million over 10 years. Still, the gap between what Toronto would pay per year and what Tucker\u2019s market demanded changed everything. In the end, money and timing pulled Tucker to the reigning World Series champions.<\/p>\n

Whit Merrifield explains why Kyle Tucker chose the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Toronto Blue Jays<\/p>\n

Former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Whit Merrifield shared key details on the \u201c6ix Inning Stretch\u201d podcast on Wednesday. He explained how close the Blue Jays were to landing Kyle Tucker before talks broke down.\u201cBut when he signed, his agent texted me and was like, \u2018Hey, you know the Jays were \u2026 Kyle really wanted to go to Toronto,\u2019\u201d Whit Merrifield said. \u201cThe Jays offered him 10 years for $350 million.\u201dMerrifield added that Toronto valued Tucker at $35 million per year. That was their limit. While it was a strong offer, Tucker\u2019s camp believed his value was higher based on the market.\u201cAnd Toronto just wasn\u2019t willing to do more than $35 million a year,\u201d Merrifield said. \u201cThe Dodgers came in and said how about $60M a year? So it\u2019s hard to say no to that.\u201dThe Dodgers clearly saw Tucker as a key piece. General manager Brandon Gomes said the team believes Kyle Tucker gives them their best chance to win the 2026 World Series. Despite growing concern around payroll and a possible 2027 lockout, the front office stayed firm.Team president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman responded to the criticism directly.\u201cWe don\u2019t pay much attention to that because we operate within the rules,\u201d Andrew Friedman said. \u201cWe do everything we can to put ourselves in the best position, both short-term and long-term.\u201dBefore signing Tucker, the Dodgers also added relief pitcher Edwin D\u00edaz on a three-year, $69 million deal in December. All moves were done within league rules, despite frustration from some MLB owners.Kyle Tucker\u2019s deal averages $60 million per season, second only to Shohei Ohtani\u2019s $700 million contract. Tucker will receive a $64 million signing bonus. He will earn $1 million this year and $55 million next year, with deferred payments stretching through 2029. The Dodgers\u2019 projected 2026 luxury tax payroll sits near $369 million, almost $90 million over the top threshold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whit Merrifield reveals Kyle Tucker preferred Blue Jays before Dodgers $240M offer flipped the decision (Image via Getty)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2378],"tags":[71058,5,377,2554,29721,71059,57,4,71061,282,70,2553,71060],"class_list":["post-536871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto-blue-jays","tag-2026-world-series-predictions","tag-baseball","tag-blue-jays","tag-bluejays","tag-kyle-tucker-contract","tag-kylie-tucker-salary-details","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-payroll-concerns","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-blue-jays","tag-torontobluejays","tag-whit-merrifield-podcast"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115952801393499683","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536871","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=536871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}