Blue Jays 2025 free agent target: Kyle Tucker

The top free agent this off-season is Kyle Tucker.

As you can imagine, the Toronto Blue Jays are in on the 28-year-old. Not just that, but ESPN’s Jeff Passan noted that rival executives believe the Blue Jays are the favourites to land the outfielder.

Tucker got his start with the Houston Astros, as the team drafted him fifth overall in the 2015 draft. Interestingly, the 2015 draft was the same one where the Astros selected Myles Straw. George Springer is also a former teammate of Tucker’s, although their overlap on the Astros was brief.

After receiving 72 plate appearances in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Tucker became a regular with the Astros in 2020 during the pandemic-shortened season, which happened to be Springer’s final season as an Astro. The following season, Springer slashed .294/.359/.557 with 30 home runs in 567 plate appearances for a 146 wRC+, the highest he’s had in any season with 550 or more plate appearances.

Tucker hit another 30 home runs in 2022 with the Astros as they won the World Series. His 2023 season was strong, but he dealt with injuries during the 2024 season. That said, Tucker slashed .289/.408/.585 with 23 home runs in 339 plate appearances for a 179 wRC+ in 2024.

During the 2024/25 off-season, the Astros traded Tucker to the Chicago Cubs. Let’s take a look at how his 2025 season went, as well as whether he’s a fit for them. Spoiler alert: he absolutely is.

2025 Season Stats

The 2025 season wasn’t Tucker’s best. Overall, he slashed .266/.377/.464 with 22 home runs in 597 plate appearances. That was still good enough for a 4.5 fWAR and 136 wRC+, but the 2025 season saw Tucker hit the fewest home runs he has in a full season. It was also his worst fWAR in a full season, unless you count his 339 plate appearances in 2024 when he had a 4.2 fWAR.

There is context to be had, though. In the first two months of the season, Tucker slashed .283/.391/.520 with 12 home runs in 266 plate appearances for a 150 wRC+, while also walking more than he struck out. On Jun. 1, he suffered a hand injury that later turned out to be a fracture on the top of his hand, not a jammed finger, which was what was diagnosed to begin with.

Tucker was still a productive player for the remainder of his season, slashing .253/.366/.419 with 10 home runs in 331 plate appearances for a 125 wRC+, but it’s clear the injury played a role in his “off” year. Additionally, Tucker missed most of September, playing in just five games.

The Cubs made the playoffs, and Tucker was alright, slashing .259/.375/.370 with one home run in 32 plate appearances for a 118 wRC+. Eventually, the Cubs lost in the National League Divisional Series.

Does Tucker fit on the Blue Jays?

Tucker is unquestionably a fit for the Blue Jays. He provides solid outfield defence, steals bases, works counts, hits for an average, doesn’t strike out, and has 30-home run pop. That’s a fit for every team, but what I just wrote describes the 2025 Blue Jays to a tee.

How would the Blue Jays deploy their outfield? Well, that’s pretty simple as well, as Tucker would play right field, Daulton Varsho would play centre field, and Anthony Santander would play left field, pushing Addison Barger to play third base on a full-time basis. Tucker would also slot nicely as their two-hole hitter.

Payroll-wise, the Blue Jays just made a metric ton thanks to their postseason run. The higher the salary, the more tax they pay, but after having the World Series ripped from their hands at the start of the month, the Jays have to go for it.

The Jays are going to spend big this off-season, and hopefully they can land Tucker.