The New York Mets are big-game hunting, after all, as they are one of three teams that have met with star free-agent outfielder Kyle Tucker.
MLB Network and former Mets GM Jim Duquette first reported that New York got a meeting with the 28-year-old, who also had conversations with last year’s World Series combatants, the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Blue Jays are still believed to be the favorites to land Tucker. They hosted him in December at their spring-training facilities and appear to be the only club willing to give him a long-term contract, even though it might not meet the 10 or 11-year quota that he was initially expected to get this winter.
The AL champions and World Series runners-up have been the most aggressive team in baseball this winter. They have already spent $337 million to improve the roster, featuring the acquisitions of starting pitcher Dylan Cease, former Mets reliever Tyler Rogers, and Japanese infielder Kazuma Okamoto.
The Dodgers’ interest is further confirmation that the rich in Major League Baseball want to get richer. The two-time defending champions, who have one of the most complete rosters in the game after signing former Mets star closer Edwin Diaz at the Winter Meetings, see Tucker as an obvious upgrade in an outfield that is currently projected to trot out Teoscar Hernandez, Andy Pages, and Tommy Edman.
While Tucker would help put either the Dodgers or Blue Jays over the top, the Mets need the lefty slugger to re-establish their place as legitimate National League contenders — a concept that went up in smoke after their three-and-a-half-month-long collapse last season that ended up in a remarkable and historic postseason miss.
President of baseball operations David Stearns has taken action to overhaul the entire roster. Diaz and franchise home run king Pete Alonso are gone. He traded away Jeff McNeil to the A’s and veteran left fielder Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien.
It has left a void in the Mets’ outfield that has yet to be addressed, though Tucker would create a significant partnership alongside Juan Soto in right field.
The chances of that happening still appear to be slim for now, though. Even if the Blue Jays balk at doling out a long-term deal for Tucker, the Mets would then have to out-bid the Dodgers in a shorter-term, higher average annual value sweepstakes.
