With multiple offers in free agency, Kyle Tucker was ultimately swayed by the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ championship pedigree.
“It’s a big decision, so you still got to weigh out everything,” he said, “but this team and this city and the fanbase kind of makes it a little bit easier to make some decisions. That is just ultimately what we wanted to do is come here and be part of that and try to win another World Series.”
Tucker signed a $240 million, four-year contract, choosing the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers over the New York Mets and World Series runner-up Toronto Blue Jays. He can opt out after years two and three.
“Obviously, we started lower,” joked Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations. “It doesn’t mean that it has to be two, three, four years here. It could be longer than that. For him to choose us when he had other longer term and other shorter term, I think speaks to the growth and progress that we’ve made on creating a destination spot.”
Tucker gets a $64 million signing bonus, of which $54 million is payable on Feb. 15 and $10 million on Feb. 1, 2027. He gets a $1 million salary this year and $55 million in 2027, and he has $60 million player options for 2028 and 2029.
In each season from 2027-29, $10 million is deferred. The deferred money from all years is payable in 10 equal installments each Dec. 1 from 2036-45.
He also gets a hotel suite on road trips.
Tucker’s $60 million average annual value is the second-highest in baseball history, without factoring in deferred money, behind Shohei Ohtani’s $70 million in his 10-year deal with the Dodgers that runs through 2033. With the addition of Tucker’s $30 million in deferred money, Los Angeles owes $1.0945 billion in deferred compensation to 10 players from 2028-47.
“There was really nobody that moved our World Series odds for 2026 more than Kyle Tucker,” general manager Brandon Gomes said.
Read more: 4 Takeaways From Kyle Tucker’s $240 Million Deal
Tucker’s signing reignited talk of management proposing a salary cap in collective bargaining after the Dodgers added yet another star to one of the sport’s highest payrolls.
“We don’t pay much attention to that because we operate within the rules and we do everything we can to put ourselves in the best position, both short term and long term, and we’re not thinking about more macro things outside of that,” Friedman said. “It is about how can we win as many games and put ourselves in the best position to win a championship in 2026 without really compromising ourselves out into the future and falling off the proverbial cliff.”
Tucker will play right field and likely bat second or third in the lineup, manager Dave Roberts said. Ohtani, who typically leads off, was working out on the Dodger Stadium field ahead of Tucker’s introductory news conference. Teoscar Hernandez will move from right to left.
“This organization from top down is first class,” Tucker said. “It’ll be a lot of fun competing with these guys and competing for another hopefully three-peat here.”
Tucker slipped on a No. 23 Dodgers jersey alongside Roberts and Gomes. He wore No. 30 for most of his career with the Houston Astros and during his lone season with the Chicago Cubs last year. Roberts wears No. 30 in honor of Dodgers star Maury Wills, his mentor.
Tucker said he chose 23 in honor of his former Astros teammate Michael Brantley, who wore the number before retiring in 2022. They won the World Series that year, although Brantley was sidelined during the postseason.
Tucker has been criticized for a perceived casual playing style. Last August, he got booed by Cubs fans for not running out ground balls and lacking intensity. He acknowledged he may be perceived that way because of “a little bit of my demeanor.”
“I try to do my best out there regardless of how I feel or what the situation is,” he said.
The Dodgers sought out clubhouse personnel, training staff, teammates and coaches to find out about Tucker’s competitive makeup and work ethic.
“His demeanor is such that it’s not an outward exuberant personality and so I think that can be misconstrued,” Friedman said. “For us, it’s about how does he compete, how does he work? For that we got very comfortable that when he’s in the box, when he’s in the outfield, he competes as well as anybody.”
Roberts did his own vetting of Tucker with other managers and coaches.
“There’s an inner fire that I’ve seen,” he said.
Tucker, the NL starter in right in last summer’s All-Star Game, assured the Dodgers he wants to continue to improve.
“He talked about that a lot, of how much he cares about the finer points,” Friedman said. “Anything we have that can help him get better in any regard — whether it’s on defense, on the bases, in the batter’s box — he’s like, ‘I’m all for it.’ So having a guy who has achieved what he has, but still have that kind of growth mindset, those are guys that make it easier.”
Roberts believes Tucker is a potential MVP candidate with the ability to win another Gold Glove.
“Having a lot of people around him, there’s more runs scored in there. I think he’s going to have the ability to drive in runs,” Roberts said. “He’s a five-tool player, he loves to compete, he loves to play the game, he pours into the community, he’s a smart player.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
