Blue Jays' ideal Kyle Tucker pivot could crush a rival where it hurts

Kyle Tucker is a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's a done deal, case closed, time to move on. At least, that's how the Toronto Blue Jays front office has to treat it. They can't afford to dwell on the fact that for a third straight season the Dodgers have stolen the guy they had their sights set on signing.

The obvious pivot for Toronto now is to go get the guy that is rumored to land with the Blue Jays' division rivals, the New York Yankees. That guy is Cody Bellinger.

Blue Jays' ideal Kyle Tucker pivot could crush a rival where it hurts

Bellinger crosses off some of the same boxes that Tucker did. He's a left-handed hitting outfielder who brings some pop to the plate. Bellinger actually hit more homes than Tucker did last season, with 29 compared to Tucker's 22. Although, Tucker was injured for some time during the 2025 season and it affected his power output.

Tucker is also two years younger than Bellinger, and to this point in his career has a better batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS and OPS+. But that doesn't mean Bellinger hasn't proven his worth. Over nine seasons he has accumulated a 30.5 bWAR, has slashed .261/.334/.483 with 225 home runs and 1102 hits in 1157 games.

This past season, Bellinger posted a 5.1 bWAR with the Yankees, his highest bWAR in a single season since his MVP season in 2019 with the Dodgers in which he was worth 8.7 bWAR. But that was followed by three straight down years and an exit out of LA. He landed in Chicago with the Cubs in 2023 and over the next three seasons he has steadily returned to what made him the league MVP.

Bellinger proved to be a tough out at the dish in 2025. His K% ranked in the 91st percentile, and it was the third straight year in which he struck out 90 times or less since racking up 150 strikeouts in 2022. Meantime, his whiff rate was in the 84th percentile, his walk rate increased to 9.8 and his hard hit rate of 38.4% is the highest it's been since he posted a 41.5% hard hit rate in 2020.

There are a lot of reasons to like Bellinger, for the right price. He and Tucker share an agent, and it happens to be Scott Boras who has already been a part of two deals with the Blue Jays this season. He represents pitcher Dylan Cease and infielder Kazuma Okamoto. So now that he's gotten one of his clients, Tucker, a deal worth an Average Annual Value of $60-million, there likely won't be any kind of discount for the Blue Jays just because they have done business with a Boras client or two this offseason.

However, with Tucker off the board and the Blue Jays really looking to fill that left handed slugging outfielder role with a free agent, Bellinger is the best fit. The best part about getting him, would mean stealing him from the Yankees and depleting their lineup even further. That alone might be worth the extra cost the Blue Jays need to pay to get him to come to Toronto.

The Yankees reportedly offered Bellinger a five-year deal worth $155 million, but Bellinger is said to be seeking a seven-year contract. While that might sound like a long commitment to a 31-year-old, let's remember the Blue Jays gave a 31-year-old George Springer a six-year deal worth $150 million in January of 2021. With Tucker out of reach, maybe they need to go back to that well and bring in Bellinger before they are really, truly out of free agent options.