{"id":370061,"date":"2025-12-26T13:22:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T13:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/370061\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T13:22:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T13:22:22","slug":"mlb-insider-picks-blue-jays-as-perfect-landing-spot-for-top-free-agent-slugger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/370061\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB Insider Picks Blue Jays as Perfect Landing Spot for Top Free Agent Slugger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"69\">The Toronto Blue Jays have been anything but passive this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/blue-jays-offseason-work-leaves-2026-roster-looking-close-complete\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">offseason<\/a> as they are attempting to strengthen every part of their roster before opening day comes around in March. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6c\">The ballclub started with its pitching staff as they got back Shane Bieber after he exercised his option, locked down strikeout machine <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/blue-jays-blockbuster-for-padres-dylan-cease-creates-impressive-rotation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Dylan Ceas<\/a>e and then took on a low-risk high-reward KBO MVP in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/cody-ponce-shares-mindset-ahead-first-full-season-blue-jays\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cody Ponce. <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6f\">After securing another arm to their bullpen with Tyler Rogers it seems like they are about done with big contracts, at least with their pitching staff as management is actively pursuing two elite bats to have for 2026, one of which is<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/how-blue-jays-outfield-could-take-shape-kyle-tucker-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> outfielder Kyle Tucker. <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6i\">Tucker is an all-around offensive threat and would be an excellent complement to the Jays current hitting line up and one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/news\/remaining-mlb-free-agents-potential-fit-with-teams\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MLB insider, Andrew Simon<\/a>, believes Toronto would be the perfect home for Tucker. <\/p>\n<p>An Outfield with Tucker<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/01kdbzjx30mdk78r30qd.jpg\" alt=\"Kyle Tucker hitting a solo home run against the Brewer\" title=\"Kyle Tucker hitting a solo home run against the Brewer\" width=\"3487\" height=\"1961\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6u\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mark Hoffman-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6y\">If the ballclub is able to secure the two-time Silver Slugger then their already strong outfield will become nearly unbeatable as he will join another Silver Slugger (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/blue-jays-star-george-springer-doesnt-make-mlb-history-still-wins-silver-slugger\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">George Springer)<\/a> as well as Gold Glove Award winner Daulton Varsho, who is also a big bat. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"71\">Then there is Addison Barger who just had a breakout season in a breakthrough season where he hit 21 long balls and 74 RBI. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"74\">With a hitting lineup as stacked as the Blue Jays it is almost hard to fathom why the Jays are pursuing him as hard as they are, until you look at his stat lines.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kyle Tucker&#8217;s last 160 games&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>.290\/.402\/.537, 40 HR, 31 SB, 169 wRC+, 15.5 BB%, 15 K%, 8 DRS, 8 fWAR <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/q9drga7ymv\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/q9drga7ymv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Aram Leighton (@AramLeighton8) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AramLeighton8\/status\/1939391378154201290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">June 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7a\">This was an &#8220;off&#8221; year for Tucker, battling an injury to his hand halfway through the season, but his performance still led to a Silver Slugger Award as he finished with 22 home runs, 77 RBI, and 87 drawn walks to complement a slash line of .266\/.377\/.464.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7d\">The Blue Jays would be the third team for Tucker as he spent the majority of his career with the Astros before landing with the Cubs last season as he was traded away at the end of 2024. Now he is ready to sign to a long-term deal and the Jays are beckoning for him to come their way. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7g\">It seems safe to say that if the Jays do sign Tucker then an outfielder (or two)  will likely be d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/blue-jays-may-have-to-deal-up-and-coming-outfielder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ealt away<\/a> as there will be too many players on the roster listed as an outfielder. While that will be a hard decision to make for John Schneider and the Jays it will be one they have to make as landing Tucker will bolster their offense.  <\/p>\n<p>Recommended Articles<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Blue Jays have been anything but passive this offseason as they are attempting to strengthen every&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-370061","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}