MLB

These are the reasons why Kyle Tucker earns $60 million a year – even if it’s shocking

ballervisions 2026年1月17日

Let’s play a little game.

Player 1: 22 homers, 73 RBIs.

2 players: 19 homers, 72 RBIs.

Here’s where this gets interesting (and, yes, please spare us from talking about careless homers and RBIs, we’ll get to our point soon).

Kyle Tucker earned $240 million. Getty Images

Player 1 recently received a $240 million contract with an average annual value of $60 million, the largest for any non-two-way player in MLB history.

Player 2 is probably the least popular player among his team’s fans.

For those who are speculating, Player 1 is Dodger rookie Kyle Tucker, and Player 2 is Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe.

Tucker’s arrival with the Dodgers on Thursday didn’t raise many questions about how the Dodgers acquired a seemingly endless free agent, but the main focus was on the fact that Tucker – a great player but not an MVP – earned $60 million per season.

To put that in perspective, he makes $20 million more per season than Aaron Judge, who has three MVPs to his name, compared to one AL spot coming out of Tucker in 2023.

He makes $9 million more per season than Juan Soto, who has five MVPs in the top six.

Heck, he makes almost $35 million more on average per season than two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper.

Obviously, contracts are signed at different times and in different markets. Tucker wouldn’t have been a top free agent last year with Soto, but this year’s class was devoid of high-profile position players.

Aaron Judge is a three-time MVP. JASON SZENES/ NY POST

MLB isn’t like football, however, where each quarterback signing is ahead of the last in terms of setting a position record.

The Dodgers didn’t have to pay Tucker $60 million to sign the previous contract, yet both he and the Mets — who offered $220 million over four years and tried to sign Bo Bichette on Friday — had no problem doing so.

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So, there is clearly a reason.

Let’s start with his age.

Tucker turns 29 on Saturday, and the team is always willing to pay players who are already in or have reached their prime.

Judge signed his nine-year, $360 million deal before his age-31 season. Soto received his 15-year, $765 million contract before his 26-year campaign.

Teams want to play players entering their prime, and are more willing to do so for players whose prime years are ahead of them than for those coming out of that stage.

Then there’s his Baseball Savant page (sorry for the insanity in advance).

If you look at Tucker’s profile, there’s a lot of red and that’s a really good thing.

Juan Soto never won MVP but he is a great player. Corey Sipkin of the NY POST

He ranked in the 98th percentile in batting average, 96th percentile in walk rate, 93rd percentile in expected weighted average, 90th percentile in batting run value and 85th percentile in strikeout rate.

Those are the categories that groups emphasize.

Tucker is a player who controls the zone, moves a ton and doesn’t hit much.

Those players are highly valued in today’s game.

Let’s compare him to Judge and Soto in these 2025 metrics.

Players	Batting Run Value percentage	Expected weight on base average percentage	Chase rate percentile	Percent walk percentage	Strikeout percentage
Tucker	90	93	98	96	85
The judge	100	100	84	1000	36
Sotho	99	100	100	100	62

Tucker ranks very well in those categories, although it is clear that he is not on the level of Judge and Soto.

Looking beyond 2025, Tucker ranks 10th in both weighted runs scored and the last five years and wins above replacement.

He has been a very good player over the last five years, although he has yet to have a season that puts him in the conversation of the best players in the sport.

Another point to consider is that the Dodgers may be paying now for a premium bat knowing they won’t be doing so anytime soon.

The next two free agency markets are pretty bad for hitters, and next winter’s class will be headlined by Jazz Chisholm Jr., Nico Hoerner and possibly Dalton Varsho.

The class of 2027 includes William Contreras, Freddie Freeman (who will be 38) and Jeremy Pena.

Those players — with the exception of Freeman, who would have been 38 at the time — aren’t at the base level of a franchise where they’re worth hundreds of millions.

You put these factors together, and while it’s OK to disagree, the Dodgers felt that giving Tucker more money per year than Judge and Soto made sense in their quest for a three-peat.