Mets reportedly offered Tucker four years, $220 million

The Mets latest offer to Kyle Tucker was for four years and $220 million, reports MLB Network’s Jim Duquette on Sirius XM Radio. Jon Heyman of The New York Post adds that the offer included no deferred money and would have been somewhat upfront, paying $120 million for the first two seasons. Will Sammon of The Athletic adds that it included a $75 million signing bonus and allowed Tucker to opt out after the second and third seasons.

It’s a very similar structure to the four-year, $240 million deal Tucker accepted from the Dodgers. The opt-out provisions were identical. New York offered a higher signing bonus and the absence of deferred money, while the Dodgers provided the additional $20 million in blanket guarantee. The Mets’ offer would have yielded an average annual value of $55 million. The Tucker-LA deal will be valued at just above $57 million per year, after adjusting the net present value to account for $30 million in deferrals.

Tucker and his camp opted for the higher guarantee and a slightly stronger adjusted annual value. The four-time All-Star also joins a team that is coming off back-to-back championships and will enter the 2026 season as the most likely team to win it all again. The Mets certainly have the top talent to compete in the National League, but they are coming off a second-half collapse and are likely relegated this offseason. They traded Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semiensigned Jorge Polanco replace Pete Alonsotraded Jeff McNeiland added Devin Williams And Lucas Weaver to a bullpen that lost Edwin Diaz, Tyler Rogers And Ryan Helsley.

The Nimmo trade clearly leaves the Mets in need of a left fielder. Bob Nightengale of USA Today suggests they are likely to pursue more seriously Cody Bellinger at this point. That would likely require them to reverse course from this winter’s aversion to long-term commitments. The Yankees have reportedly made a five-year offer for Bellinger in the range of $155-160 million. That’s already a hefty annual value and a decent term, even if his camp at the Boras Corporation seems to last seven years.

Harrison Bader may be the only other everyday outfielder still in free agency. He’s a top center fielder who had a mediocre season for the Mets two years ago. They may not think it’s had a big enough upgrade Tyrone Taylorand he’s certainly not an approach to the mediocre bat they tried to land in Tucker. They could be more aggressive on the trade front for someone like Jarren Duran or Lars Nootbaar. Getting the Red Sox to field the former would likely require parting ways with one of their talented starting pitchers, in addition to direct infield help (i.e. Brett Baty or Mark Wind).