The New York Mets offered Kyle Tucker the kind of short-term arrangement befitting a superstar.
It just wasn’t enough.
The Mets offered Tucker a four-year contract worth $220 million, league sources said. The deal contained a $75 million signing bonus with opt-outs after the second and third seasons. There was no deferred money.
The problem: The Los Angeles Dodgers, winners of back-to-back World Series, offered something similar.
So Tucker and the Dodgers reached an agreement Thursday on a four-year deal worth $240 million, per league sources. The contract contains opt-outs after the second and third seasons. Even with $30 million deferred, the net present value of Tucker’s deal will be $57 million per season, which beats the Mets’ Juan Soto’s previous record by more than $6 million.
Mets club officials figured all along that the Toronto Blue Jays would offer something longer and that the Dodgers would loom as a threat for something short-term. Some within the industry questioned whether Tucker, 28, would want to play in the biggest market, and some executives viewed him as a better personality fit elsewhere.
Unlike last offseason, when they prioritized Soto, the Mets didn’t enter the winter hunting for a specific star. A path to landing a big-name free agent always existed, however. It has likely depended on the market developing to the Mets’ liking, meaning a star like Tucker perhaps taking a shorter deal. The Mets’ interest in Tucker picked up this month, when they held multiple video meetings with him. Unfortunately for the Mets, the Dodgers took a similar approach this offseason.
So far this offseason, the Mets are acting selectively with who they spend money on. They did not offer Pete Alonso a contract. They did not outbid the Dodgers for Edwin Díaz. In Tucker, the Mets saw someone worth splurging on. In their view, Tucker was the best free agent available. The chance to get him on a short-term deal was an opportunity too good to pass up.
The Mets’ problem from here is that there is a considerable drop-off from Tucker to the next available free agents or trade candidates. Tucker, a right fielder, is an elite offensive player. There isn’t anyone quite like him in next year’s free-agent class, either.
There is still time for the Mets to improve their roster. The Mets could end up pivoting to Cody Bellinger, though he has already held talks with the Yankees for beyond four years. They could also shift their focus more intently on pitching. But even if they supplement their pitching staff, their lineup remains a serious question.