Kyle Tucker may officially be out of the Blue Jays price range after Mets make giant offer

The Toronto Blue Jays have spent almost this entire offseason in pursuit of the top free agent in the 2025-26 class in star outfielder Kyle Tucker. With all of the talent to be an elite five-tool player while heading into his prime, his potential could be limitless in the ensuing seasons ahead. In order to be successful in recruiting him, the Blue Jays may need to offer Tucker the most money to win the sweepstakes. But to add such a player to an organization that already has Vladimir Guerrero Jr. locked in over the next decade and a bit, the Blue Jays could be unstoppable.

However, that dream of landing the best free agent remaining in the market may have been abruptly dashed at the hands of the crazy-spending New York Mets, as it has been reported that they have made a ludicrous offer to Tucker. In a shorter-term deal, the Mets are willing to give the star outfielder in the ballpark of $50 million AAV per season. Yes, you read that correctly, $50 million AAV in salary each year, so we are talking Juan Soto territory now.

Kyle Tucker may officially be out of the Blue Jays price range after Mets make giant offer

With that, Tucker could now officially be out of the price range of the Blue Jays with that giant Mets offer. After all, the Blue Jays were likely hoping to land Tucker more in the range of $35-40 million AAV or less on a long-term deal to help make the numbers work now and the future.

But at $50 million AAV, even if it is just for three or four years, it would severely hinder the Blue Jays’ ability to make roster improvements in the upcoming years with so much money that would be locked in already to just Guerrero and Tucker alone. Not to mention also the enormous luxury tax that will need to be tacked on for the 2026 season for Toronto.

So yes, Tucker could be a difference maker for the Blue Jays if he joins the club. But is he worth generational talent-type of money that Soto and Shohei Ohtani ended up getting? After all, Tucker is coming off a slightly down season in 2025 in which he hit just .266 with 22 home runs and 73 RBIs in 136 games played.

He has also had some injury woes in each of the past two years, including a right leg injury in 2024 that knocked him out for almost half the season. So should the Blue Jays really commit that much money and sacrifice other areas that need addressing in one shot? Highly unlikely, thus potentially putting Toronto out of the running for the budding star outfielder.

Nevertheless, there could be an outside shot left for the Blue Jays if they can convince Tucker to a longer-term contract with a much lower AAV for job security. Otherwise, it may make the most sense for the Blue Jays to finally move on to Plan B instead.