Amid a heavy push to land coveted free agent Kyle Tucker, New York Mets owner Steven Cohen shared a cryptic tweet.
“Let me know when you see smoke,” Cohen wrote on social media Thursday.
Mets infielder José Reyes also hinted at a big move in his own social media post:
Robert Murray of FanSided reported Wednesday that the Mets offered Tucker a short-term contract worth $50 million per season, nearly matching Juan Soto’s annual average salary of $51 million per year.
The New York Post’s Mike Puma noted that a decision from Tucker wouldn’t come until at least Thursday.
The Athletic’s Will Sammon provided more details, reporting that New York has shown “effort and interest,” holding “multiple video meetings” with Tucker over the past week. According to Sammon, the offer for Tucker is believed to “range” between $120 to $140 million across three years.
Tucker reportedly has met with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays, along with the Mets, and those three seem to be the favorites at this point. According to MLB.com’s Sonja Chen, Tucker is “believed” to be seeking a long-term deal, which might not bode well for a team like the Dodgers, who have a handful of players on long-term deals.
The Mets haven’t had a very memorable offseason so far, losing Pete Alonso, Edwin DÃaz and others in free agency, so landing a player like Tucker would help make up for the lack of talent coming in.
Tucker, who is widely believed to be the best player on the market this offseason, is coming off a season in which he hit 22 home runs, 73 RBI and slashed .266/.377/.464.