Oct 9, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker (30) reacts after hitting a home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning for game four of the NLDS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images David Banks-Imagn ImagesThe Los Angeles Dodgers are no stranger in going big game hunting during the offseason.
As we’ve seen during the Andrew Friedman era, the team is not shy in splashing the cash for the right player. When surveying the market for this current free agent crop, there are varying opinions on whether the Dodgers will go feet first into the free agent waters, or perhaps pivot to the trade market instead.
Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com recently put together a piece in which he offered up some of his offseason predictions. All of the big players were analyzed — and when it came to Kyle Tucker, Castrovince believes the Dodgers are the right fit for the talented outfielder.
“Amid all the options seemingly on the table, the Tucker-to-Toronto chatter makes the most sense to me. Though the Jays whiffed on some recent first-in-class free agents, they have organizational momentum now that they did not have then, and he would fit their lineup beautifully. That he’s from Tampa, a stone’s throw from their Spring Training facility in Dunedin, Fla., is an added bonus. I hope it happens, to be honest.
“Ah, but the Dodgers always seem ready to stand in Toronto’s way. They did it when they signed Shohei Ohtani, and again when they signed Roki Sasaki … and again in Game 7 of this year’s World Series. They’ll do it once more by using the roughly $40 million they have coming off the books to land a guy who fills one of their few holes.”
On paper, Tucker makes sense purely as a fit. He’d be a big upgrade offensively as well as defensively. Keeping him from the Toronto Blue Jays and their potent lineup would be an added bonus.
The numbers and logic behind a massive deal is where the Dodgers could hit the pause button. Already roped into several lengthy deals, giving one to Tucker — a very good albeit non-superstar player — doesn’t seem like something the ballclub would do.
With an eye towards the future and some younger, more elite free agents becoming available in the upcoming years, the Dodgers could instead try to coax Tucker into a shorter-term/higher AAV deal similar to what they proposed to Bryce Harper before he inked a deal to play for the Philadelphia Phillies.
There’s also another way to hurt Toronto, which would be signing Bo Bichette to play somewhere in the infield.
