5 instant takeaways from Tucker's free-agent megadeal

After a day full of anxiety and anticipation all around baseball – but especially in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto -- late on Thursday night we all learned that Kyle Tucker, the four-time All-Star and unquestionably the top free agent this offseason, would be signing with the Dodgers. The Dodgers got their guy, yet again.

Here are five immediate takeaways from the deal:

1. The Dodgers really did need him

My colleague Mike Petriello, just last week, ranked the eight teams in most desperate need of Tucker. He had the Dodgers third, and for good reason. As he noted, for all the MVPs they had on their roster last year, their outfield was actually a bit of a mess. The Dodgers' outfield ranked 18th in FanGraphs WAR in 2025 and were in fact projected for that spot against in 2026 -- before this signing, anyway.

If you’re looking to defend your title (again), going into the season with the 18^th-best outfield in baseball isn’t the best way to do it. Tucker slots perfectly into right field for the Dodgers, and at age 28 (if just until his birthday on Saturday), he actually becomes one of the younger guys in that lineup. The Dodgers have a lot of strengths, but before this signing, the outfield wasn’t one of them. It is now.

2. They are becoming more and more reliant on free agency, though

It’s not like the Dodgers have nobody in the Minors; back in August, MLB Pipeline ranked their farm system as the best in baseball. But the team, unlike when this Dodgers run started, is no longer being built from the ground up. Free agency has become the catch-all panacea for every Dodgers issue now, and along with that comes a roster that is both expensive and aging.

Sure, the Dodgers can outspend everyone, for now anyway, but that’s not something that’s going to work in perpetuity. The Dodgers are an old team now, and they’re just going to keep getting older. (Like all of us.) As much as it might seem like the Dodgers are doing so, you cannot actually just go out and get the top guy every offseason. It will catch up with you. As great as Tucker is, it may catch up with the Dodgers before you know it.

3. The Blue Jays still can’t shake the Dodgers

Toronto fans are going to be seeing these Dodgers in their sleep for decades to come. This is now the fourth time in three years that the Blue Jays have reached for the skies only to have the Dodgers slap their hands back down. First it was falling short on Shohei Ohtani in free agency bidding before the 2024 season. Then they fell short on Roki Sasaki before the ’25 season. Then there was that World Series a couple of months ago that you may vaguely remember.

And now this. Tucker was in many ways an ideal fit for the Jays, a team that had already added plenty this offseason but was looking for the addition that hopefully would put them over the top. They still could use an upgrade in their lineup, and they’ll certainly be looking for one wherever they can find one -- maybe even looking back toward Bo Bichette. Whomever they go after … they surely hope the Dodgers stay the heck away from him.

4. The pressure on the Mets just got turned up, again

It has been a psychologically and nostalgically upsetting offseason for Mets fans, who have said goodbye to Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Edwin Díaz and Jeff McNeil and have only Marcus Semien, Jorge Polanco and some former Yankees relievers to show for it. More to the point: Weren’t the Mets the team that was supposed to be winning all these big free-agent battles?

Now, that’s not entirely fair, of course: They just signed Juan Soto, uh, last year. But despite the fact that owner Steve Cohen has made it very clear that he expects a Mets World Series sooner rather than later, the Mets have let one big-name free agent after another go by them this offseason. Now, Mets fans with long memories may consider that smart: Going after big names is the thing that used to get them in so much trouble. But that doesn’t change the fact that the Mets still feel a little stuck in neutral right now, no?

5. As always, everything goes through the Dodgers

The Dodgers were the signature dynasty of this decade before they won their second World Series in a row. The last time the Dodgers missed the playoffs was 2012. They are always here, and always must be reckoned with. But every year, whatever you think about them, they always go out and try to make themselves better than they were the year before. This guarantees them nothing, of course. If the madness of that 2025 World Series taught us anything, it’s that the Dodgers aren’t head and shoulders above anyone, that they’re vulnerable and have to scratch and claw just like everybody else.

If you’re going to get where they are, though, if you want what they have, you have to go out and take it from them. The Dodgers are the best team in baseball, and they got a little better on Thursday night. They are the team everyone is watching, and envying, and trying to beat -- always.