Kyle Tucker, the top slugger and most coveted player on this year’s free agent market, startled the baseball industry with a destination that’s become all too familiar to those finishing out of the money for a player’s services: The two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Tucker spurned the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets and instead agreed to terms Jan. 15 with the Dodgers on a four-year, $240 million contract, a person familiar with the agreement confirmed to USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal, first reported by ESPN, has not been finalized. Tucker’s contract will include opt-outs after the second and third years.
Tucker, who turns 29 in January, was undeniably the top free agent this winter after first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. signed a 14-year, $500 million extension with the Blue Jays. And after the Blue Jays reached Game 7 of the World Series and signaled their intention to remain aggressive, they appeared to be the frontrunner for Tucker’s services.
Instead, the Dodgers – who just more than two months ago vanquished the Blue Jays in an unforgettable World Series Game 7 – prevailed again.
While it took two months of free agency for Tucker to find a home, he had no shortage of options as the bidding process wound down. The Mets offered him a reported $50 million annual salary, but on a shorter-term deal, a parameter the Dodgers apparently preferred as well; despite a half-billion dollar roster, the Dodgers were in need of outfield punch and lurked in the running.
And now they will land him on an average annual salary that trails only new teammate Shohei Ohtani’s heavily-deferred 10-year, $700 million deal.
Tucker becomes the eighth Dodger with a nine-figure contract, and with the off-season not yet finished, pushes their estimated 2026 payroll commitment to $334 million – and their competitive balance tax payroll will far exceed $400 million.
Tucker, a four-time All-Star, has reached the playoffs in every season since 2019, lifting the Chicago Cubs to a wild-card berth in 2025 after a stint with the Houston Astros that included a 2022 World Series title.
He’s been one of the game’s most consistent offensive producers in that span.
Tucker has accumulated 25.3 Wins Above Replacement since 2021 and posted a 145 adjusted OPS in that span. He’s posted a .277/.365/.514 slash line and averaged 27 home runs per season.
Selected with the fifth overall pick by the Astros in 2015, Tucker, a four-time All-Star was one of the last remaining connections to that rebuild and prosperity when Houston traded him to the Cubs over the winter.
In his one year in Chicago, he anchored a lineup that vaulted from 12th in the major leagues in runs scored to fifth, with players like Pete Crow-Armstrong, Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner enjoying significant upticks in production.
While many factors contributed to those players’ improvements, it’s also hard to deny the downstream effect of Tucker’s presence. Though they were lauded for the return haul in their trade with the Cubs, the Astros nonetheless saw their streak of consecutive playoff appearances end at eight without Tucker.
“I think it kind of speaks for itself, right? We all know what he brings to this team,” Swanson told USA TODAY Sports in June when asked about Chicago retaining Tucker. “He’s an aircraft carrier of a guy in the lineup.
“He’s so good. How could you not want that?
The Dodgers agreed.
And now he’ll be the linchpin of a lineup laden with former MVPs, future Hall of Famers and nine-figure contracts. The Dodgers will blitz opposing pitchers with Ohtani ($700 million deal) in the leadoff spot, Mookie Betts ($365 million pact) hitting second, likely followed by Tucker and then Freddie Freeman ($162 million).
Heck, if they want to keep the left-right-left cadence, All-Star catcher Will Smith (a paltry $140 million man) can slide between Tucker and Freeman. Either way, the game’s greatest team just got a lot better – and left a hole in the lineups of those who came up short.
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