What Blue Jays, Mets Reportedly Offered for Kyle Tucker Before Dodgers Swooped in

Here's where the Mets and Blue Jays' final contract offers to Tucker reportedly landed.

Tucker landed with the back-to-back defending champion Dodgers. | Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

The Kyle Tucker free agency sweepstakes came down to three teams—the back-to-back defending champion Dodgers, the reigning American League champion Blue Jays and a Mets team looking to make a splash after missing the postseason with a talented roster. Despite the Blue Jays seemingly leading the pack all winter and the Mets emerging as a serious challenger in the last couple of weeks, it was the mighty Dodgers who swooped in to land Tucker on a four-year, $240 million contract in the end.

For the Mets and Blue Jays, missing out on Tucker wasn't for lack of trying.

Mets' final contract offer for Tucker revealed after Dodgers deal

According to Jon Heyman of The New York Post and Will Sammon of The Athletic, the Mets' final offer to Tucker was a four-year contract worth $220 million. Unlike the Dodgers' offer, the Mets' offer did not include deferrals. But the Mets, like the Dodgers, included opt-outs after years two and three of the deal, and actually went a step further in terms of the signing bonus. New York offered Tucker a $75 million signing bonus, $11 million more than what Los Angeles put on the table.

The Mets were in the Tucker sweepstakes until the bitter end, so much so that billionaire owner Steve Cohen was on his phone sending out a tweet informing the fanbase that the club was waiting for a decision from Tucker, indicating a deal was imminent.

Let me know when you see smoke

— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) January 15, 2026

For those who don’t understand the pope election reference , we are waiting for a decision. That’s all I know

— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) January 16, 2026

Unfortunately for Cohen and Mets fans, Tucker chose to play for the Dodgers, spurning what was a very strong offer from New York. The Mets acquired three-time All-Star Marcus Semien and imported relief pitchers Devin Williams and Luke Weaver thus far this offseason. But the club lost out in bidding for slugging first baseman Pete Alonso and closer Edwin Diaz. Landing Tucker would have been a splash move for a team that regressed from a National League Championship Series appearance in 2024 to missing the postseason in 2025.

Things were not so dire for the reigning American league champions, though.

Blue Jays' reported final contract offer to Tucker

The Blue Jays, fresh off of the franchise's first appearance in the World Series in 32 years, have been aggressive this winter. Toronto inked the best available starting pitcher, Dylan Cease, then brought in fellow starter Cody Ponce, relief pitcher Tyler Rogers and infielder Kazuma Okamoto. As such, Tucker wasn't so much a need for Toronto as much as a seamless fit who would raise the ceiling of a championship-level roster ever higher.

Even still, the Blue Jays pushed hard for Tucker. Of the three final contenders, Toronto, as ESPN's Jeff Passan reported previously, had been the only team willing to offer a contract as long as 10 years. Toronto's final contract offer to Tucker was a 10-year deal worth $350 million, according to Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It's not clear if the deal included any deferrals, but it was a very strong offer from the Blue Jays, as it would have tied Tucker as the sixth-highest paid position player in MLB in terms of average annual value, alongside new Cubs star Alex Bregman.

Ultimately it wasn't enough to beat out the Dodgers' final offer, which made Tucker the highest-paid position player in AAV.

Full details of Kyle Tucker's Dodgers contract

Here's what the Dodgers' winning offer to Tucker looked like in its entirety, courtesy of Passan.

Full details on Kyle Tucker's Dodgers contract, per ESPN sources:

- 4 years, $240 million guaranteed
- Opt-outs after Years 2 and 3
- $64M signing bonus
- $30M deferred
- $57.1M a year in net present value after factoring in deferrals -- a record by $6M+

A staggering deal.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 16, 2026

---