ESPN’s Jeff Passan just said what every Blue Jays fan has been waiting to hear, and when Passan talks, we listen. According to the vaunted MLB insider, the Toronto Blue Jays are considered the current favourites to land four-time All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker this offseason.
“The Blue Jays, coming off their first World Series berth in more than three decades, have no plans to slow down,” Passan wrote. “They are considered the favourite by other executives to land Tucker.”
The left-handed bat seems to be the most prestigious name in this year’s rather weak free agent class. The Blue Jays, who have been runners-up on names like Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, and Roki Sasaki over the last couple years, are looking to land a giant fish, and Tucker fits the mold.
Yes, the Blue Jays came seemingly inches from getting these deals done in the past, but they’ve never truly been viewed as ‘favourites’ to land a big-named player like this. Of course, the Blue Jays just went on a magical run all the way to Game 7 of the World Series, which is likely helping to attract free agents like Tucker, but what Shane Bieber did deserves attention, too.
By opting into his $16 million player option with the Blue Jays for the 2026 season, he chose to forgo free agency, leaving millions on the table. Players around the league noticed Bieber turning down millions of dollars to return to Toronto, and that type of buy-in is what can most definitely draw in names like Tucker. Although he may not exactly be a franchise-altering name, he’s been one of the best hitters that the league has had to offer throughout his career.
The Blue Jays are officially front-runners for Kyle Tucker
Inserting the 28-year-old into the heart of the lineup would be nothing short of enormous for the Blue Jays. Last season with the Chicago Cubs, he slashed .266/.377/.464 with 22 home runs in 597 plate appearances for an .841 OPS. He only hit 22 home runs in 2025, but Tucker is capable of hitting 30, as he did in 2021 and 2022. He’s also capable of driving in 100-plus runs, having led the AL with 112 RBI in 2023. In this year’s postseason (against the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers), he had a batting average of .259 with seven hits, a homer, an RBI and five runs scored in eight games.
This year’s postseason run boosted the four-time All-Star’s career playoff line to a .233 average with 57 hits, nine home runs, 29 RBI, and 32 runs scored across 72 games. On the defensive side of the ball, he’s adequate in right field, and is also able to use his speed to steal 25 bases a season. Tucker barely strikes out (14.7% strikeout rate in 2025) and works deep counts. This is reflected in his elite chase rate of just 17.6% and his walk rate of 14.6%. In short, he’s a dream for hitting coach David Popkins.
Since it’s still relatively early in the offseason, it’s trickier to predict where he’d slide in, but a special bat like his will find a way to be inserted into the heart of the order, no matter what. The Blue Jays already signed a big power bat in Anthony Santander (who can also hit left-handed) last year, but his first season in Toronto was memorable for all the wrong reasons. He only ended up playing in just 54 games, slashing .175/.271/.294 with six home runs and 18 RBI. That being said, Santander’s rocky inaugural season with the Jays is exactly why landing a proven left-handed star like Tucker becomes so critical.
Toronto can’t afford to gamble on bounce-back seasons alone. They would still benefit from another cornerstone bat they can count on every single night, especially considering that Bo Bichette has yet to re-sign. Tucker would give them the stability, production, and star power that Santander wasn’t able to provide in year one, although it’s far too early to count him out.
Regardless, Tucker seems like far more of a sure thing, and would vault the Jays into an entirely new echelon of free agency if they were able to translate their preferred status to a signed contract.
