Blue Jays can live with the decision to stand by their guy during Tucker negotiations

The one-two gut punch of missing out on Kyle Tucker and losing Bo Bichette is almost too difficult to summarize into words, though the Toronto Blue Jays at least can say they put their best foot forward.

It's been widely reported that the Blue Jays were one of few teams willing to actually offer long-term deals to both players, though it's clear that the exorbitant amount of money both got in the short term was preferrable. As a (perhaps painful) reminder, Tucker received $240 million over four years from the Dodgers, while Bichette took $126 million over three years from the Mets.

Apparently, one sticking point in negotiations was actually Vladimir Guerrero Jr. According to MLB insider Joel Sherman, the Blue Jays wouldn't increase their offer beyond the historic extension Guerrero received last April.

Blue Jays were right to stand firm with Kyle Tucker in free agency

To break down the full extent of these details, let's start with Guerrero. Toronto's star first baseman received $500 million over 14 years, good for roughly $35.7 million on a per season basis. Tucker, meanwhile, was offered $350 million over 10 years, good for $35 million per season.

Instead, the right fielder took the Dodgers' aforementioned offer. it's hard to blame him for that — in effect, the Blue Jays were offering him the same contract, but with six years and $110 million tacked onto the end. For a player of his caliber, that's a sum of money he should be able to beat once he reenters free agency in four (or fewer) years.

But it's also hard to blame the Blue Jays for balking at Tucker's final price tag. They've already spent more than $200 million on Dylan Cease over a seven-year period, and adding Tucker's salary for the long haul would have really strangled the flexibility of their books. Eventually, you have to draw a line in the sand (unless you're the Dodgers, of course).

That they marked Guerrero's deal as their cap is also a nice nod of loyalty to the face of the franchise; it's semantic in nature, but ensuring that the five-time All-Star remains the highest paid player on the roster ensures there's no doubt about who is the leader of the Blue Jays. With Bichette now heading to the Big Apple, this has become, definitively, Guerrero's team.

And, for what it's worth, it's also fun to gawk at the Dodgers' bloated payroll now that they were forced to sign Tucker to such an extreme contract. Their resources may be seemingly unlimited, but it's simply laughable that they'll be spending about $120 million on Tucker in 2026, including luxury tax payments on his salary.

As I said: You have to draw a line the sand somewhere.