Morning Briefing: Mets Offer to Tucker Was Four Years, $220 Million
Good morning, Mets fans.
The Mets came up short in their pursuit of Kyle Tucker, with the New York Post reporting the club’s final offer was four years and $220 million. The Athletic later confirmed the proposal included a $75 million signing bonus with opt-outs after Years 2 and 3 and no deferred money. The Dodgers four-year. $240 million deal with Tucker includes a $64 million signing bonus, $30 million deferred and opt outs after the second and third seasons.
Despite the strong push, Tucker appears headed to Los Angeles. Jeff Passan of ESPN was the first report. While the deal is not yet official, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register noted that Tucker posted a career highlight video on Instagram ending with his name on a Dodgers jersey in a locker, captioned, “It’s Time for Dodger Baseball.”
For more on this story, check out our piece on Tucker’s signing.
Photo Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
Now onto the morning briefing.
Latest Mets News
The Mets did complete a trade on Wednesday per our own Mike Mayer, acquiring additional international signing bonus pool space ($1.5 million) from Cleveland in exchange for left-hander Franklin Gomez. The added flexibility helps New York finalize deals in the current international free agent class, including the signing of highly touted outfielder Wandy Asigen.
Mike Mayer explained that the Mets needed an additional $1.5 million in IFA space after signing Asigen for $3.9 million. Asigen had previously agreed with the Yankees before backing out and signing with the Mets. The Mets second best IFA prospect signed on Thursday was outfielder Cleiner Ramirez. He received a $1.373 million signing bonus.
The Mets agreed to a two-year minor league deal with left-hander Trey McGough. Per The Athletic, McGough recently came out of retirement and posted a 1.98 ERA across 81 2/3 minor league innings in 2024.
Mets prospect Luisangel Acuña stayed hot in winter ball, blasting his fifth home run to tie the game in the first inning. Translated from BeisbolPlay, Acuña’s massive shot to left field continued his standout winter ball campaign.
Latest MLB News
Team USA continues to load up for the World Baseball Classic, as Clayton Kershaw and Alex Bregman both committed to the roster, per MLB and MLB. Meanwhile, Adam Ottavino and Jorge Posada will represent Team Italy in pitching and coaching roles, respectively.
A major arbitration storyline remains unresolved in Detroit, with MLB.com outlining the uncertainty surrounding Tarik Skubal as his massive salary gap with the Tigers fuels trade speculation.
Willi Castro agreed to a two-year deal with the Rockies, according to ESPN, while Tampa Bay, Cincinnati and the Angels completed a three-team trade headlined by Josh Lowe, Gavin Lux and Brock Burke, per ESPN.
The Rays added organizational pitching depth, signing Chase Solesky to a minor league deal with a spring invite. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times noted that Solesky owns a 4.68 ERA over 126 minor league games and reached Triple-A in 2023.
Broadcast news out of Baltimore, as Jake Rill of MLB.com reported that Josh Lewin has joined the Orioles’ radio broadcast team for play-by-play duties. Previously, Lewin was the second half of the Mets’ radio booth with Howie Rose from 2012 to 2018.
Latest on MMO
Here’s the full story on Kyle Tucker joining the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Robert Colonna writes about the Mets officially signing Wandy Asigen.
On This Date in Mets History
1986: The Mets acquired infielder Tim Teufel from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for Billy Beane, Bill Latham and Joe Klink. Teufel would help the Mets win the World Series in 1986 and would remain with the team until 1991. He would then return to the Mets’ major league squad as a coach from 2011 to 2016.
Latham would only appear in seven games with the Twins, while Klink would have short stints with Minnesota, Oakland, Seattle and Florida. Billy Beane would soon be out of baseball and into the front office, where, with the help of Sandy Alderson, craft his signature “Moneyball” style of management, which helped bring the Oakland Athletics four straight AL West division championships from 2000 to 2003.
Born on This Date: Dave Jauss (1957), Ron Herbel (1938).
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