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By Jackson Roberts
Contributing Sports Writer
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Kyle Tucker's free agency is starting to gather steam, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have remained in the mix throughout the process.
There's no doubt that the Dodgers could use another outfielder. The Michael Conforto experiment was a disaster last year, and bringing in Tucker, one of the best right fielders in the game, would have the auxiliary benefit of shifting Teoscar Hernández back to left field in Los Angeles.
However, as ESPN's Jeff Passan hinted Wednesday, it doesn't appear particularly likely that the Dodgers will overextend themselves in an effort to land Tucker, who could sign within the next week.
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As reports have emerged about the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays making concrete offers to Tucker, Passan asserted that the Dodgers would only be interested in a short-term deal. New York reportedly has a short-term offer on the table already, worth $50 million per year (as first shared by John Mincone and confirmed by FanSided's Robert Murray).
"The Dodgers are exercising patience. They just don't have to be proactive in markets they believe will come to them," Passan wrote. "Would they like Tucker? Sure. Anyone would. Will they chase him? Nope. Not unless it's on a shorter-term deal.
"Same with any free agent, really, because the Dodgers are now at the point where players believe their best chance at a World Series ring runs through Los Angeles, and the calendar is starting to force them to consider options they might not have otherwise."
A good deal is in the eye of the beholder, so perhaps the Dodgers will decide that a four-year deal with a similar average annual value to what the Mets are offering, perhaps with an opt-out involved, suits their fancy. But it seems telling that there haven't been reports about LA putting a number in front of the 28-year-old All-Star.
The Blue Jays have an appetite to go longer than the Mets or Dodgers for Tucker, per Passan, and perhaps that principle will carry the day. But even though it's never smart to count the defending World Series champions out, it seems more than likely at this point that the Dodgers are sitting in third place.
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