It's the dead of winter, which means the stove ought to be warming, ever so slowly. The likes of Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger and Bo Bichette are making just enough headway to get us, a curious audience, talking.
Tucker is the top free agent on this market, but doesn't want to sign before Bellinger, who could increase his value with a long-term deal. The same can be said of any of the ace-quality starting pitchers, including Framber Valdez and Ranger Suarez. These are position battles with money on the line. Are you not entertained?
Blue Jays and Dodgers offer Kyle Tucker different things
Kyle Tucker wants $400 million, but it's not clear he's going to get $400 million. As I wrote on Tuesday, and has been widely-reported since, interested teams are politely suggesting they'd be more willing to sign the 28-year-old outfielder on a short-term deal. This includes the Dodgers, who are patiently waiting for Tucker's price to go down. In return, he'd receive a higher average annual value, and perhaps reach free agency again before his 30th birthday. It's not all bad news!
If there were one team to give Tucker the contract of his dreams, it'd be the Toronto Blue Jays. Tucker has already visited the Jays facility down in Florida, per FanSided's Robert Murray. As The Athletic reported on Wednesday morning, the luxury tax could come into play for teams interested in Tucker's services. The Dodgers, for example, already paid over $169 million after winning their second title. If they add Tucker or another big-name free agent, they'd owe a 110% tax on that contract.
The Blue Jays are also over the luxury tax, but would only owe a 90% tax if they signed Tucker, as they are only a two-time luxury tax offender.
Does Cody Bellinger have leverage over the Yankees?
As reported by Ken Rosenthal on Tuesday, Cody Bellinger has all the leverage over the Yankees. The Yankees and Bellinger have been connected all winter long, and rightly so. Bellinger just had one of the best seasons of his career in New York, has proven he can succeed in a market many cannot, and the Yankees have no real replacement on their roster.
In fact, Brian Cashman's only caveat is that Kyle Tucker remains available. While I find it hard to believe New York would pony up the $40 million AAV it might take to sign Tucker, whether that be short or long-term, it's still an option. If Bellinger and Scott Boras are willing to call the Yankees bluff, then they have all the leverage.
My argument against Bellinger isn't that the Yankees shouldn't sign him. Rather, they absolutely should. But as of this writing, it seems as though they're negotiating against themselves. Sure, Bellinger has been tied to the Mets and Angels, among others, but the Yankees remain the clear favorites to sign him. The longer they wait, the more they risk Tucker signing, and Bellinger's price increasing as a result. Get the deal done, Hal!
The Cubs sure sound like a team ready to make a big move
The Chicago Cubs need starting pitching depth, but they might have a unique solution to that problem. Chicago is reportedly interested in both Bo Bichette and Alex Bregman. Either player would sign as the team's starting third baseman, one would assume. Bichette is four years young than Bregman. Both have been prone to injury the last few years, but are incredibly useful offensively when healthy.
Bregman's leadership is seen as a difference-maker by interested teams, per Rosenthal. He'd also likely come at a lower price tag than the younger Bichette.
The Cubs are interested in both of these stars because they want to upgrade the third base position. While Matt Shaw has a lot of potential, his production didn't cut it in 2025. Signing Bregman or Bichette gives Chicago a number of options. First, they could trade Nico Hoerner or Shaw for starting pitching depth. Hoerner likely has more value as a Gold Glove-caliber second baseman who had a 114 OPS+ last season. In trading Hoerner, the Cubs could move Shaw to second base.
Secondly, the Cubs could keep all three of Bichette/Bregman, Hoerner and Shaw around, using the latter as a superutility player of sorts. Either way, it should be encouraging to Cubs fans that the front office is getting creative and finding unique ways to fill the void left behind by Tucker.