- - With Kyle Tucker signing, Dodgers once again flex their financial might in pursuit of a World Series title

Jordan ShustermanJanuary 16, 2026 at 1:41 AM

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Guess who.

The big, bad Los Angeles Dodgers, fresh off back-to-back World Series titles, have struck again, flexing their unparalleled financial might with a signing that has once again rattled the baseball world: four years, $240 million for outfielder Kyle Tucker, the consensus top free agent in this year’s class.

The Dodgers swooping in to land Tucker comes toward the end of a week filled with reports indicating that Tucker was likely choosing between the Blue Jays and Mets, with Toronto willing to offer a longer-term contract and New York proposing a sky-high salary on a shorter-term deal. It had been understood that the Dodgers, too, had expressed interest in Tucker on a short-term, high-AAV deal, but it was unclear the lengths Los Angeles was willing to go to win the bidding war. As such, when reports surfaced that the Mets offered Tucker $50 million per year, that felt like the kind of deal that would test Toronto’s long-presumed status as the favorite to sign Tucker.

As it turned out, the Dodgers were prepared — and apparently seriously motivated — to outdo New York’s humongous, short-term proposal with an eye-popping offer of their own. And despite lying in the weeds for the majority of this process, they have once again managed to add yet another star player to a roster already overflowing with elite talent.

Because of everything the Dodgers have come to represent in baseball — as a singular behemoth with an unprecedented amount of star power and consecutive championships — Tucker’s signing sparked a firestorm of takes and reactions that extend far beyond the 29-year-old outfielder’s on-field résumé. fWAR be damned; this is about what his joining the modern superteam means for the health and well-being of the entire sport.

Tucker’s contract also elicited a collective double-take from fans and analysts trying to wrap their heads around such a staggering salary for any player, let alone one who, while undeniably one of the more dependably productive position players on the planet, doesn’t strike anyone as a record-setting kind of talent. It’s one thing to have a bidding war for a generational talent such as Shohei Ohtani or Juan Soto reach stratospheric heights. But for Tucker? It just doesn’t quite compute.

Yet the Dodgers are operating within the rules, clearly comfortable soaring well beyond any and all luxury tax thresholds intended to dissuade outlier spending, to construct the best roster possible in pursuit of another World Series title. After making a statement at the winter meetings by signing elite closer Edwin Díaz to improve a bullpen that badly needed upgrading, they’ve delivered a staggering encore in Tucker to address one of their few other weaknesses, a relatively unsettled outfield. So while there’s plenty of discussion to be had about the ramifications of another top talent choosing to wear Dodger blue, let’s consider the baseball-related motivations behind L.A.’s gargantuan investment in Tucker.

If anything, the lengths Los Angeles was willing to go to sign Tucker could be indicative of an internal evaluation of the outfield as an area of weakness that could not be ignored. This deal doesn’t look like what was described as the Dodgers’ free-agency strategy of “letting the market come to them.” No, this looks like a team with unique financial wherewithal doing whatever it takes to sign the best option available at a position of need. Sure, they waited longer to execute the transaction, rather than pouncing early in the offseason like with Díaz, but the end result still speaks volumes about what L.A. was prioritizing this winter. (It’s also quite the contrast to the Dodgers’ attempt to address the outfield last offseason: an ill-fated, one-year flier on Michael Conforto).

Was the Dodgers’ outfield really in need of such a boost? Considering how much offensive talent exists on the roster — not to mention the wealth of impact arms on the pitching staff — “need” feels like a stretch. But zoom in on the Dodgers’ recent outfield production, especially since Mookie Betts made his transition to full-time infielder, and it has undeniably underwhelmed. Over the past two seasons, Dodgers outfielders have combined to rank 18th in fWAR. In 2025, their collective .299 on-base percentage ranked 26th. Over the past three seasons, Tucker’s .380 on-base percentage ranks eighth among qualified hitters (his new teammates Ohtani and Freddie Freeman rank fourth and sixth). That’ll help.

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That’s not to say Los Angeles didn’t have internal outfield options to turn to, but those didn’t exactly inspire confidence. Teoscar Hernández took a notable step back with the bat in his second year as a Dodger and rates as one of the worst defensive outfielders in baseball. Tucker’s addition should enable Hernández to slide back to left field, where he looked slightly more comfortable in 2024. (But the most important thing is that he avoid further deterioration at the plate, considering he’s owed more than $40 million over the next two seasons.) Andy Pages is a worthwhile option in center field after a sneaky solid regular season followed by a disastrous postseason (except for his World Series-saving catch), but like Hernández, he’s far more slug-centric and without reliable on-base skills.

And adding Tucker isn’t just about strengthening the outfield; it’s about reinforcing the offense overall. Other than Ohtani and Will Smith, whose track records and positive trajectories are tough to refute, there are legitimate questions about the remainder of the Dodgers’ lineup in the relatively short term.

Freeman is still terrific, but he turns 37 in September; how much longer will he be an elite hitter? Betts’ bat took an enormous step back in 2025, and while his shockingly good shortstop defense helped ensure plus value on the whole, his presence in the lineup doesn’t carry nearly the weight it used to. Max Muncy was quite productive when healthy last season, but he turns 36 in August and is entering the final year of his contract. Tommy Edman, who could also see time in the outfield, has a lot to prove at the plate as he enters his third season in L.A. Then there’s Alex Call, Hyeseong Kim, Miguel Rojas and recent addition Andy Ibáñez — these are useful role players but not hitters whom opponents fear when game-planning.

By adding a sure-fire offensive force in Tucker, the Dodgers have protected themselves against further regression from their older stars and underwhelming production from the players whose bats shouldn’t be trusted much to begin with. On top of that, Tucker’s relative youth — he turns 29 on Saturday — stands out on a Dodgers roster that is one of the oldest in the league. Only Pages and backup catcher Dalton Rushing are younger than Tucker among position players currently projected to be on L.A.’s 26-man roster.

With opt-outs after the second and third seasons of the contract, it’s possible Tucker will bolster the Dodgers’ lineup for only a couple of years before bolting elsewhere. Then again, with such massive annual salaries in the third and fourth years, it wouldn’t be stunning to see him stay put and star for the Dodgers for the duration of the deal.

However long Tucker stays, adding a player of his caliber still firmly in his prime without committing to him for the long haul is a smart way to bridge the gap between the current roster core and the next wave of Dodgers talent. Exactly which players that wave consists of remains to be seen, but the farm system is as stacked as ever, with an absurd amount of outfielders, some of whom could join Tucker in the Dodger Stadium grass in the relatively near future.

But those are future concerns. And if their actions are any indication, what matters most to the Dodgers is whatever — and whoever — is available right now to help them sustain their spectacular run of success. As it turns out, Tucker was part of that overarching equation, at a cost that boggles the mind but fits the theme of how L.A. has operated in recent years.

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Source: “AOL Sports”