Few baseball fans were shocked when the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker late on January 15, despite the rumors that were pulling him in two other directions. The New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays were his other top suitors.
The Mets reportedly offered Tucker a deal worth $50 million per year to join them in Queens. The Dodgers put that number to shame with a four-year, $240 million contract with deferrals, which works out to a $60 million average annual value (and frankly, Tucker has no business making that much).
As horrifying a superteam as LA is, Boston Red Sox fans can revel in Toronto's loss. The Blue Jays have already added Dylan Cease, Tyler Rogers, Kazuma Okamoto and more this offseason, and adding Tucker to their lineup would've made for four difficult series against them every year for the foreseeable future.
But now that the Jays have lost out on Tucker, they still have all the money they planned to give him. They could use it to reunite with their longtime shortstop, Bo Bichette, who is also a top Red Sox target in the wake of their whiff on Alex Bregman.
Red Sox revel in Blue Jays' whiff on Kyle Tucker, but they still have all the money they'd need to reunite with Bo Bichette
With Tucker out of the picture, Toronto may be willing to meet something closer to Bichette's asking price of around $300 million. Even if there was no way Boston would meet his demands, Bichette's return to the Jays would still hurt — anything that helps them assert themselves in the American League East is less than ideal for the Red Sox, who have had to turn to offensive backup plans now that Bregman is a Chicago Cub.
Eugenio Suárez is still available and will demand a shorter contract and less money than Bichette, but the Red Sox will reportedly turn to the trade market to fill the gap in their infield. Ketel Marte was a longtime target for Boston this offseason, but the Diamondbacks reportedly pulled him off the market. Isaac Paredes, Nico Hoerner and Brendan Donovan have also been floated as fits.
Boston would not be financially hamstrung after meeting Bichette's demands, but Red Sox fans are used to seeing them come in second (or third or fourth) place for worse free agents asking for much less money. If Bichette ends up back in Toronto, it could end up the scariest team in the AL East and back in the World Series against the Dodgers again.