Front offices across Major League Baseball reacted in various ways to Thursday night's Jeff Passan Bomb: Kyle Tucker is in agreement with the Los Angeles Dodgers on a four-year, $240 million contract.
Bitter and hurt over losing Tucker, the New York Mets' brass and its bottomless pockets immediately threw a $42 million AAV deal at Bo Bichette, which reportedly spoiled the Philadelphia Phillies' plan to land Bichette on a seven-year, $200 million pact. This domino game also revealed that the Boston Red Sox were never going to get Bichette, which ultimately gave Sox fans one more reason to hate what went down with Tucker and the Dodgers in the first place.
Windfalls for Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette must have Boston's front office speechless
Full details on Kyle Tucker's Dodgers contract, per ESPN sources:
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 16, 2026
- 4 years, $240 million guaranteed
- Opt-outs after Years 2 and 3
- $64M signing bonus
- $30M deferred
- $57.1M a year in net present value after factoring in deferrals -- a record by $6M+
A staggering deal.
How are John Henry and the Red Sox front office even supposed to relate to the Tucker and Bichette signings? This is a franchise that just low-balled itself out of the Alex Bregman sweepstakes (while pompously believing its offer was the market's best). It's also a front office that couldn't fathom paying Rafael Devers $30 million per season.
So ... $60 million per year for Tucker? Bichette for $42 million annually? These are numbers that would make Henry either laugh, faint, cry, or all of the above. We've learned this offseason that the Red Sox don't "believe" in long-term contracts for anyone on the wrong side of 30 (or close to it). What we already knew is that Boston also flat-out isn't in the business of the league's highest bidders, long-term deals or not.
It wasn't that long ago when the Red Sox and New York Yankees belonged to the highest stratosphere of big-spending in MLB. Nowadays, you'd start off by mentioning the Dodgers, Mets, and Toronto Blue Jays (in that order) in any discussion about the most powerful spenders in the sport.
The Red Sox have proceeded cautiously this offseason in comparison to the above three behemoths (remember, the Mets offered Tucker a $50 million AAV deal before getting outbid). Yes, Boston's $130 million deal for Ranger Suárez showed a little bit of big-market aggression, but it was also a completely reactionary move to getting burned.
Boston's front office has no interest in dominating or setting the tone for the market. The Red Sox are closer in front-office identity to a mid-market team like the Milwaukee Brewers than they are to the Dodgers or Mets.
That doesn't mean Boston can't be successful on the baseball field, by the way. Look at all the success the Milwaukee has had recently. Nonetheless, there's something undeniably less exciting about this new Red Sox era for fans. It used to feel good to dream big every winter.