The New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers were seemingly the top three teams in the Kyle Tucker free agency sweepstakes coming into the offseason. They could be the only three teams in baseball that could afford him on a massive deal, considering The Athletic’s Jim Bowden projects Tucker to sign for $427 million.
On Wednesday night, the Yankees and Dodgers received a huge update in the right direction toward their respective pursuit of Tucker.
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Blue Jays agreed to a seven-year, $210 million deal that would send him to the Blue Jays. This is a huge move for Toronto to make after whiffing in the World Series last month.
But this decision likely takes the Blue Jays out of the Tucker sweepstakes.
It would be almost unheard of to see Toronto give Cease $210 million and turn around to give Tucker over $400 million. There’s a chance Toronto could make waves in the Tucker sweepstakes if he’s willing to accept deferrals in his deal, but the idea seems very unlikely at this point.
Because of that, the Dodgers seem like the odds-on favorites to sign the former Chicago Cubs slugger. Los Angeles has as much money as any team in baseball.
The Yankees still need to choose between Tucker and Cody Bellinger, but the fact that the Blue Jays went for Cease should leave the door open for the Bronx Bombers to sign the former Cubs star.
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