Blue Jays May Be About to Lose Kyle Tucker Amid Absurd Reported Mets Offer

Will the Toronto Blue Jays be willing to match what the New York Mets are offering?

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The Toronto Blue Jays came into the offseason hungry to land the kind of free agent superstar they have coveted for years now but seemingly always fall just short on actually signing.

For years now, Toronto has been a suitor for guys like Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani and countless others but have been unable to land the plane. Following their first World Series appearance in over three decades though, the luck seemed bound to change this time around.

As a result, the Blue Jays have been connected in some way shape or form to virtually every major offensive free agent even after committing hundreds of millions to the pitching staff already. By far the most reported on target however is the top name on the market overall in Kyle Tucker.

The standout Chicago Cubs outfielder is as good as they come, and makes perfect sense for Toronto. Fans who are clamoring to see Tucker north of the border though got a heavy dose of nerves on Tuesday with the report of what the New York Mets are offering to land his signature.

Mets Trying to Steal Tucker from Blue Jays with $50 Million AAV

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As first reported by baseball insider Robert Murray and confirmed by several others, New York has a short-term offer on the table which would pay Tucker $50 million per season. It's unclear exactly how many years would be offered at that price, however chances are it will not be more than two or three.

Toronto has been expected throughout the process to be the team who presents the longest offer to Tucker, an agreement which obviously would not come close to $50 million per year but could approach a decade in length.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were expected to be the big players in a possible short-term market, but instead it seems like the Mets are the ones to present Tucker with potentially the kind of contract that Alex Bregman signed with the Boston Red Sox a year ago.

General manager Ross Atkins should not let the report spook him into making a bigger offer, but it certainly is concerning for fans who saw Tucker's arrival as more of a when than an if.

Blue Jays Could Get Decision on Kyle Tucker Soon

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When reports start to trickle out of the kind of offers teams are making to a player, this generally means it will not be much longer before the news of a decision being made follows.

Clearly, New York has a way they want to go about this, however if Tucker has not accepted their offer yet, it could be a play to try to get Toronto to offer even more or for another team to emerge with a mega deal.

Regardless, Tucker is going to have to decide sooner than later what he wants to do as spring training looms here in just a few weeks. While the Mets may not have seemed like a serious threat previously, they certainly are that now.

Time will tell if the Blue Jays are able to fight them off and land the player who many have seen as their top target all winter long in Tucker.