The New York Mets are very much in the hunt for Kyle Tucker.
Will Sammon of The Athletic reported on Tuesday that they have a three-year offer on the table for the star outfielder, “in the range of” $120 million to $140 million, which is the only known offer on the table. Hours later, Robert Murray of Fansided reported that the Mets offered as much as $50 million annually in a short-term deal.
The Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers are the two other known finalists, but the Mets are poised to make Tucker one of the top earners in all of baseball in terms of average annual value (AAV). Only Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Zack Wheeler, and Aaron Judge hold AAVs of $40 million or more.
Such a financial figure is quite the consolation prize for the soon-to-be 29-year-old, who undoubtedly was looking for a long-term contract at the start of the offseason as Major League Baseball’s consensus top free agent.
Whether or not it will be enough to land him in Queens could be known soon, as Sammon reports a decision could be made as early as this week. But there is obvious intrigue from Tucker’s party, as he has held “multiple video meetings” with the Mets over the last week.
The Blue Jays are believed to be willing to offer more years on a contract, while the Dodgers have the financial might to outbid any offer on the table, even if it is not as long as Toronto’s proposition.
Nabbing the left-handed slugger’s signature would be the largest and perhaps most important acquisition of the Mets’ offseason. Two-thirds of their outfield remains unresolved, with veteran left-fielder Brandon Nimmo getting traded to the Texas Rangers in November for second baseman Marcus Semien. The center-field spot has been a significant need since last season, which the team tried to address by acquiring Cedric Mullins from the Baltimore Orioles. That move, though, did not work out, and Mullins is now with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Since the start of the 2021 season, Tucker is slashing .277/.365/.514 (.878 OPS) with 162-game averages of 32 home runs and 106 RBI.
