The Toronto Blue Jays were heavily interested in Kyle Tucker this offseason.
Toronto hosted Tucker on a visit as the star hitter had mutual interest in the team. The Blue Jays had offered him a long-term deal, but the Los Angeles Dodgers came in and offered Tucker a four-year, $240 million deal, which he took.
Following Tucker’s introduction by the Dodgers, former Blue Jays infielder Whit Merrifield revealed the outfielder agent texted him and told him the reason why he spurned Toronto.
“His agent texted me and was like, ‘Hey, Kyle really wanted to go to Toronto,’” Merrifield said on the 6ix Inning Stretch podcast. “The Jays offered him ten years for ($350 million), which ended up coming out. They needed, I felt like they needed a little bit more based on Kyle and his market and comparables. Toronto just wasn’t willing to do more than ($35 million) a year.
“Everyone has a value for different players. Toronto felt that his value was ($35 million) a year for ten years, which is an incredible offer. The Dodgers came in and said about ($60 million) a year. It’s hard to say no to that.”
It’s disappointing news for Blue Jays fans if it’s accurate, as Toronto likely only needed to spend a bit more money on him. But, Toronto wasn’t willing to go higher than Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s AAV, which led to Tucker signing with the Dodgers.
Tucker is a four-time MLB All-Star.
Dodgers GM Explains Tucker Negotiation
Los Angeles came in at the end to land Tucker, as it appeared the Blue Jays and New York Mets were the front-runners.
Dodgers’ president of baseball Andrew Friedman said the team started lower in negotiations but went all-in on their offer to ensure they landed the marquee free agent.
“Obviously we started lower,” Friedman said. “I think when we’ve seen these shorter-term, higher AAV deals, I don’t think they’ve ever come when they also had a really long, significant deal. Not that I can remember. Usually guys take those shorter-term deals because the longer-term deal hasn’t materialized, so it’s a chance to kind of reset and go back out to the market. He had that opportunity.
“So for us, it was about selling the opportunity to play with these guys, to play in front of these fans, to play in this city, to connect with this community. Who knows? It doesn’t mean it has to be two, three, four years here. It could be longer than that. I think for him to choose us when he had other longer-term and other shorter-term, I think speaks to the growth and progress we’ve made on creating a destination spot.”
Tucker hit .266 with 22 home runs and 73 RBIs last season with the Chicago Cubs.
Blue Jays Still Have Solid Offseason
Despite Toronto losing out on Tucker and Bo Bichette signing with the Mets, the Blue Jays still had a good offseason.
Toronto started its offseason by signing star free agent pitcher Dylan Cease to a seven-year, $210 million contract. The Blue Jays also inked starter Cody Ponce and reliever Tyler Rogers.
The lone bat Toronto signed was Japanese slugger Kazuma Okamoto to bolster its lineup as he’s projected to start at third base.
The Blue Jays enter spring training with the fourth-best odds of winning the World Series at +1400.
Agent Reveals Key Reason Why Kyle Tucker Spurned Blue Jays