Kyle Tucker has not signed yet, and that has started a coast-to-coast tug-of-war. It’s almost like teams like sharks smell Tucker instead of blood! The Yankees want him. The Dodgers want him. And well, both teams have very real reasons to be this desperate. The Yankees are still trying to recover from the Juan Soto dilemma, and just the idea of what Tucker’s left-handed swing with that short right field porch would do is making pinstripe fans salivate.

The Dodgers, too, are staring at an outfield mix that honestly feels more like a temporary fix than a championship blueprint now. But it’s not the big teams that are in the showdown.

We have a surprise visitor to the mix—the Baltimore Orioles.

Ken Rosenthal, in his piece, mentioned, “Pitching, both starting and relief, remains Baltimore’s top priority, according to sources briefed on the club’s plans. If the Orioles landed Tucker, they possibly could package [Colton] Cowser or [Dylan] Beavers with prospects to satisfy some of their pitching needs. Or, they could pursue other avenues. Their thinking would be: Make Tucker the anchor of a still-mostly youthful lineup, then figure out the rest.”

Yes, Baltimore, the $1.75 billion rising AL powerhouse with a clean payroll, is ready to ride the Tucker train!

But indeed, if there is one team that can come scoop in and take Tucker at half the cost of Soto, then it is the Baltimore Orioles. They have no positional headaches, and they have no aging contract overlap—the stage seems made. So, suddenly, two of baseball’s richest giants are being forced to look over their shoulder at a franchise that was not even in the conversation of being aggressive a year ago.

But yes, the New York Yankees make sense. They were willing to go three-quarters of a billion deep for Soto, so even a $450 million deal for Tucker would be a penny pinch for them. The fit is also beautiful, whether it is pairing Tucker’s swing with Judge or sprinkling some Giancarlo Stanton there—and voila, they have rebuilt the heart of the lineup.

The Dodgers make sense, too. Their current outfield of Hernandez, Edman, and Pages isn’t really striking fear into pitchers. And when an $18 million bet on Conforto is fizzling, the front office will think of another plan—maybe the one that Tucker brings for the next decade. For now, though, they need to be wary because orioles can come take Tucker right off their noses.

Toronto Blue Jays on the Kyle Tucker train and their Plan B!

However, it’s not only the Yankees and Dodgers who will be at a loss for words in case Tucker ends up in Baltimore—so will the Toronto Blue Jays. See, the Jays enter the off-season still haunted by that soul-crushing game 7 loss in the World Series, two outs from breaking the long-standing curse. Now the mission is simple—get back and finish the job, and they need the missing link to get there. And given LA is going nowhere and is still aggressive this offseason, the Blue Jays know they can’t afford to sit quietly. This is why Kyle Tucker has been atop the Jays’ radar.

However, if things don’t work out, then ESPN’s Jeff Passan revealed that Toronto has a backup plan. The backup is Cody Bellinger. And although the Yankees are trying to keep Bellinger in the Bronx, right now, anything can happen, and Toronto is intrigued by that idea. The winter meetings are weeks away, but the Blue Jays are honestly acting like there is no time to waste. Why wait for good work, right?

And Bellinger ticks various boxes. Passan mentioned that he is one of the market’s few nine-figure bats, and not to mention, he is a former MVP. Coming off a big 2025 with the Yankees of 29 homers, 98 RBIs, and 25 doubles, he brings the pop and versatility to the team.

With Vladdy locked in at first, Bellinger would give Toronto the dynamic outfield bat they need. So sure, Tucker might be the grand prize, but the Jays are not waiting hand in hand with zero backup. After all, now the Dodgers, Yankees, and even the unexpected Orioles are in on Tucker!