Latest Kyle Tucker update gives Dodgers opportunity to become all-time villain

While the Edwin Diaz signing was thrilling, the majority of the winter has been a slow affair for the Los Angeles Dodgers. For the most part, it seems like Brandon Gomes was telling the truth when he said the club would be in for a boring offseason.

However, the Dodgers are the Dodgers, and you can never count them out. Los Angeles is always waiting in the weeds, ready to pounce when something makes sense. When an opportunity presents itself, the reigning champs waste no time in pulling the trigger and getting things done.

That's where we might be heading with the perceived crown jewel of the offseason, Kyle Tucker, who has languished on the market longer than many believed. The latest update could send him right into the Dodgers' waiting arms and force a meltdown across the baseball landscape, unlike one we've ever seen before.

Kyle Tucker's market might be playing right into the Dodgers hands, setting them up to become an even bigger villain than they were before

Tucker was expected to sign a decade-long pact of $400 million or more this winter, but aside from a meeting with the Toronto Blue Jays, his market has been dead silent. That was over a month ago, and while the Blue Jays are still supposedly in the mix, the moves they've made since then are making it harder to see a fit. All of that is leading to speculation that the four-time All-Star won't be getting anything close to the $400 million he desires.

At the heart of it all has been a reluctance by big market teams, with the exception of Toronto, to spend big. The New York Mets have shipped out long-term deals by swapping Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien. The New York Yankees have refused to sign anyone who wasn't part of the fringes of their 2025 roster, and even the Dodgers didn't go beyond three years with Diaz when he was seeking five.

Labor uncertainty heading into 2027 could be the driving factor, but whatever the reason, it has hurt the market for Tucker and the other high-end free agents. That's led USA Today's Bob Nightengale to speculate that a high-AAV, short-term deal is the most likely outcome for Tucker.

"The Tucker market is the biggest mystery. He was projected to earn a contract in the $400 million neighborhood but could have to instead take a higher AAV on a short-term contract and hit the market again after two consecutive injury-plagued second halves," Nightengale wrote.

That would play right into the Dodgers' hands. LA's interest in Tucker has always been of the high-AAV, short-term variety, and if the star outfielder has to wave the white flag on his mega-deal dreams, expect them to pounce.

Adding another superstar to the Dodgers' constellation, especially on a deal that is well below what most projected, will send the rest of the league into a tailspin. However, if that does happen, it will be because Los Angeles played the market correctly, something that all teams have the option to do, but not all have the skill and fortitude to pull off.

This could end very well for the Dodgers, and very poorly for the rest of MLB.