LA Dodgers, Blue Jays need to make MLB history to beat the NY Mets for Kyle Tucker

Cooties can cancel a playdate. Can the qualifying offer penalties have a team treating a star free agent like he has the plague? It hasn’t seemed to matter with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays who continue to pursue Kyle Tucker. One of three alongside the New York Mets, the difference comes down to what each has already done.

Thanks to X user TonyMetro who pointed this out, the Dodgers and Blue Jays would need to make history if they landed Tucker. His point is that after the Dodgers signed Edwin Diaz and the Blue Jays came to terms with Dylan Cease, each has already lost two draft picks as well as $1 million in international bonus slot money. They have the same penalties as the Mets for signing a player who rejected the qualifying offer. The difference is the Mets have yet to sign someone with the same stipulation.

No team in the qualifying offer’s short history has signed two players who rejected the QO from another team and had it result in the loss of 4 draft picks plus the international bonus slot money. The Texas Rangers signed Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom after the 2022 season, but were hit with lesser penalties. They didn’t have picks in rounds two or three.

Do the Dodgers or Blue Jays care enough about losing 4 draft picks plus international bonus slot money?

Some of the international bonus slot money can be regained via trades if that’s something they covet. However, with the signing period beginning on Thursday, they better hop to it. Moreover, it’s the subtraction of their second, third, fifth, and sixth picks. That’s a lot of youth that’ll never come to the system.

For a chance to three-peat, the Dodgers might overlook it. An opportunity to end their drought could have the Blue Jays caring less about draft picks. Plus, if they were to sign Tucker, it probably means they’re letting Bo Bichette walk away. They gain one of those draft picks back.

As a team who has had some trouble winning free agent sweepstakes, one could be inclined to believe Toronto would let the 2026 draft become a more minor event. They’d lose only 3 draft picks overall because of the gained addition of letting Bichette sign elsewhere.

The Mets have their own similar implications. Signing Tucker would result in the same thought process for free agents like Framber Valdez or Ranger Suarez. Each becomes less of an option for the Mets if Tucker ends up in Queens.

Someone has to spit in the face of the MLB Draft eventually, right? The Mets can always sign Tucker and use some of their resources on a trade or simply make the amateur draft even less thrilling than it tends to be every summer anyway.