The most dominant spending club in Major League Baseball, just picked up another mega free agent.
Multiple sources are reporting that former Chicago Cub, Kyle Tucker, has signed a four-year, $240 million deal with the two-time defending World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The deal includes an opt out after the second and third years of the deal and a $75 million signing bonus.
According to Jon Heyman, the deal sees deferred compensation.
With the deferred compensation, the $57.1 million net present value average annual value (AAV) is the highest amount in MLB history surpassing Juan Soto’s $51 million and Shohei Ohtani’s $46,081,476 that is reduced due to deferred compensation.
The incredible signing adds to an already formidable lineup. Below is the projected 2026 Dodgers lineup:
- Shohei Ohtani DH
- Mookie Betts SS
- Freddie Freeman 1B
- Kyle Tucker RF
- Will Smith C
- Max Muncy 3B
- Teoscar Hernandez LF
- Tommy Edman 2B
- Andy Pages CF
When adding in Tucker, and including Cot’s Contracts projected 40-man Luxury Tax payroll for 2026, the Dodgers currently sit at a staggering $405,400,741.
Tucker turns 29 on Saturday. He rejected the $22.025 million qualifying offer from the Cubs in November. He played 136 games in 2025, and just 78 in 2024 with the Astros. He slashed .266/.377/.464 last season. According to Baseball-Reference, he posted a 4.6 WAR – a very good number (ranked 36th last season, according to FanGraphs), but the lowest since 2020, his third year in the league when he played just 58 games. The capacity for Tucker to return to his true form is bolstered by where he will likely sit in the lineup.
In December, the Dodgers inked top closer Edwin Diaz to a three-year, $69 million deal in December and added infield depth by adding Andy Ibáñez to a one-year, $12 million deal earlier this week.
