During his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Tucker said, “This organization from the top down is first class and the team these guys have put together to deliver a great product for the fan base and to compete for championships speaks for itself.”
Tucker signed a four-year, $240 million contract with the Dodgers.
The race for the 29-year-old All-Star was an intense one. Not only were the Dodgers in on Tucker, but so were LA’s National League rival, the New York Mets, and the team LA faced in the 2025 World Series, the Toronto Blue Jays.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Blue Jays offered Tucker a long-term deal, but it didn’t get him as much as he was looking for. As for the Mets, they were willing to pay him $50 million per season.
Did the Dodgers just pull off their third straight offseason robbery?
The Dodgers come out on top in this move, and that has been the case for the past three offseasons. Los Angeles dominated in the offseason, and that translated well into the season.
It all started in 2023, when the Dodgers landed arguably the best player ever: Shohei Ohtani. A few days later, the Dodgers signed international superstar Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a huge contract, the largest for any pitcher in the league’s history.
LA won gold and that immediately translated into a World Series win. The Dodgers didn’t stop there last season by adding Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki to bolster their starting rotation.
Now Tucker comes in. The Dodgers desperately needed to improve their outfield, and they did so on both defense and offense by adding the four-time All-Star.
The Florida native is a complete baseball player. He does it all in attack and alongside the likes of Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Max Muncy, to name a few; it will be hard to get out of LA
As for his defense, Tucker may not be the elite defensive outfielder he was in 2022, but he is certainly an upgrade from last season. While that is the case, his numbers last season were suspect, ranking in the 25th percentile in Outs Above Average, the 83rd percentile in arm value and the 58th percentile in arm strength.
LA is the team to beat and has all the tools to complete the three-peat.
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