Red Sox Feel Ripple Effects Of Dodgers’ $240M Kyle Tucker Deal

Things got a bit more difficult for the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night.

The Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly agreed to terms with All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker on a massive four-year, $240 million deal. ESPN's Jeff Passan reported the agreement and FanSided's Robert Murray shared the contract figures.

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"Breaking: Star outfielder Kyle Tucker and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in agreement on a free agent contract, sources tell ESPN," Passan wrote on X.

The Red Sox got some bad news on Thursday

"Free-agent outfielder Kyle Tucker and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in agreement on a four-year, $240 million contract, according to sources familiar with the deal. It includes an opt out after year two," Murray wrote on X.

With Tucker off the board, the top two remaining free agent sluggers are Cody Bellinger and Bo Bichette. The Red Sox have been specifically linked to Bichette, especially since the club missed out on Alex Bregman. The team's five-year deal with Ranger Suárez seemed to throw a wrench into the idea of Bichette, but the club still needs an infielder, and he's the best infielder available in free agency. While this is the case, the incumbent Toronto Blue Jays have also been linked to their homegrown star. Toronto was heavily tied to Tucker, but missed out. Afterward, Sportsnet's Shi Davidi reported that this could open the door back up for Bichette to return to Toronto.

"An agreement with Tucker would have signalled the end of the Blue Jays’ relationship with Bichette, the franchise cornerstone since reaching the majors in 2019, who remains in free agency," Davidi wrote. "But this may reopen a pathway for his return, even if it’s believed there’s a big financial gap with Bichette, who met with the Philadelphia Phillies this week.

"Tucker, who turns 29 on Saturday, would have been one of the few players capable of matching Bichette’s lost production, while doing it from the left side of the plate. A career .273/.358/.507 hitter, he would have slotted in well either in the two-hole in front of Guerrero or in the clean-up spot behind the franchise slugger, while also rating as a strong base-runner, despite pedestrian sprint speed, and a solid defender."

This is bad news for Boston on multiple fronts. The Blue Jays have been the most aggressive team in baseball this offseason by signing Dylan Cease, Kazuma Okamoto, Tyler Rogers, and Cody Ponce. Well, maybe the second-most aggressive team in baseball seeing how the two-time reigning World Series champs landed Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz. Regardless, the reigning American League champs have reloaded and already could be the very best team in the division.

Now, they missed on Tucker and could get back into the mix heavily for a player who also has been linked to Boston.

The Red Sox missed out on Pete Alonso as he landed with the American League East rival Baltimore Orioles. Now, there's even more competition for Bichette. If he lands with the Blue Jays, that would be another free agent not coming to Boston and more firepower for one of the team's biggest rivals. If Tucker had landed with Toronto, that would've been bad for Boston in the standings, but it would've taken the Blue Jays out of the market for Bichette.

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