The Dodgers are back in the World Series to defend the title they won last year after knocking the Brewers out of the NLCS, but as they wait to see which of the Mariners and Blue Jays will emerge from the ALCS to challenge them for the commissioner’s trophy it appears their front office already has one eye on the upcoming offseason. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports tonight that Los Angeles is expected to target a star outfielder Kyle Tucker when free agency opens after the World Series.
The news is hardly a surprise, as the Dodgers are routinely involved with the game’s big free agents. They famously won the sweepstakes for both Shohei Ohtani And Yoshinobu Yamamoto during the 2023-2024 offseason, and while they were missing a young superstar last winter Juan Soto after landing as one of five finalists for his services, they still spent big in free agency when they entered Blake Snell, Roki SasakiAnd Tanner Scott between a number of other signing and re-signing.
As impressive as the Dodgers have been this year, one of the team’s few major flaws is their production in the outfield. Andy Pages (113 wRC+) has become a legitimate fixture in center field, but Teoscar Hernández (102 wRC+) took a significant step back last year from his first season in Los Angeles and the Michael Conforto The experiment ended disastrously when he posted a wRC+ of just 83 with a negative WAR in 138 games before being left off the club’s postseason rosters. With Conforto returning to free agency this winter, there is an opening on the grass in Los Angeles that Tucker could very well fit into.
Tucker, 28, is a four-time All-Star who is the consensus pick for this winter’s top free agent. He broke through with the Astros in 2021 and has since hit a sensational .277/.365/.514 (143 wRC+) in five seasons of work. His resume was so impressive that the Cubs were convinced to give up their top spot Cam Smith and All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes (next to young starter Hayden Wesneski) in a three-player package to acquire Tucker ahead of his final year under team control. Tucker was everything the Cubs hoped for in the first half of this year, as he slashed .291/.295/.537 with 17 home runs in 83 games through the end of June.
At that point, it seemed like Tucker would find himself at the center of discussions about whether or not he would join Ohtani, Soto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in securing a more than $500 million guarantee this winter. However, things got worse in the second half. Tucker made two trips to the injured list and hit just .225/.348/.342 in 53 games as of July 1, leaving him with fewer home runs (22) in 136 games this year than he managed in 78 games during his injury-shortened 2024 season (23).
Heyman writes that Tucker’s tough second half has lowered his projected price tag somewhat, but a $300 million contract could still be realistic with even $400 million a possible target for the outfielder camp. That’s the kind of price tag that will certainly appeal to many candidates, should it become a reality. This is unlikely to be the case for the Dodgers, who are projected to have a payroll of $395 million this year Grid source and we’ll see that figure drop to $329 million next year without offseason additions. Even if Los Angeles isn’t willing to exceed this year’s payroll (and there’s no indication yet that this is the case), they would still have plenty of room in the budget to add Tucker if they wanted to.
Looking at other prospects, the Cubs have shown at least some interest in bringing Tucker back into the fold next year. That said, it should be noted that they never spent more than the $184 million they gave Jason Heyward during the 2015/16 off-season on a contract in club history. That would be a significant leap from the club’s apparent comfort zone under chairman Tom Ricketts and president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, though you could argue that trading for Tucker in the first place was similarly strange.
Heyman also suggests that the Red Sox, Phillies and Giants could be in the mix for Tucker’s services, although none of these potential landing spots are as obvious as Los Angeles. Boston already has a very busy outfield mix Jarren Duran, Roman AnthonyAnd Wilier Abreu all left-handed outfielders under long-term team control who belong in everyday roles and profile best in a corner. The Phillies have made it clear that their top priority this winter is retaining star DH Kyle Schwarberand it remains to be seen if the Giants are interested in adding another corner bat to a huge contract after trading for Rafael Devers back in June.
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