MLB analyst compares Kyle Tucker’s $400 million pursuit to Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto as teams explore short-term deals

Entering free agency after a strong 2025 season, Kyle Tucker is one of the most coveted players on the market this winter. Reports claim the outfielder is seeking a massive contract offer, in the range of $400 million.

Although a number of franchises continue to keep an eye on Tuckerhis contractual expectations appear to be a major sticking point.

If things continue in this vein, ESPN’s Paul Hembekides believes a short-term, high-AAV deal could be the perfect happy medium for both team and player.

“Without Toronto offering a ten-year, $400 million contract, as has been discussed ad nauseam, I think there are two frameworks that some of these big market teams should at least run in his camp to see if there’s any interest,” Hembekides said. “One one plus one and two plus two. As a reminder, he’s going to play this year at 29 years old. The one plus one that I wrote down is a two-year, $104 million contract.

“That’s $52 million per year, which makes him the second highest-paid player in baseball over those two years. I’m going to give you a player option after the 2026 season. The second option I noted, which might be even more palatable for the player, is a two-plus-two contract. It’s a four-year, $172 million contract. That pays him $43 million per year. That puts him behind (Shohei) Ohtani and (Juan) Soto We’re going to give you a player option after 2027.”

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Paul Hembekides explained his thoughts behind these deals and why the Astros should consider reuniting with Kyle Tucker

Later in the same conversation, Hembekides explained his thought process behind these hypothetical contract offers.

“The idea here is very simple, if we are a big club that likes the idea of ​​the player in the short term, but not in the long term,” said Hembekides (timestamp: 1:05). “He’s not a tooled player. We’ll take Kyle Schwarber as an example, who’s just a hitter.

“He (Schwarber) can lose a considerable amount of bat speed and still have a ton of impact. What’s a Kyle Tucker’s seventh year like, when he’s swinging the bat slower than nine out of ten guys in MLB? That’s a real concern, it seems.”

He believes it Houston Astros should also consider pursuing Kyle Tucker in this framework.

“I think the Houston Astros should get back into the fray,” Hembekides added (timestamp: 1:38). “(Astros owner) Jim Crane uses the phrase ‘boat anchors’ to describe long-term contracts, but one one plus one or two plus two in a place where he’s comfortable, known and in a ballpark that perfectly matches his air power, to me, makes all the sense in the world. This seems like an opportunity that could make sense for both sides.”

During his first stint with the Astros, Kyle Tucker played a key role in helping the team win the 2022 World Series.