{"id":144469,"date":"2026-01-22T09:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T09:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/144469\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T09:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T09:05:14","slug":"kyle-tucker-is-really-going-to-trigger-an-mlb-lockout-come-on-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/144469\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Tucker is really going to trigger an MLB lockout? Come on now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This was pretty audacious, even by the Dodgers<\/a>\u2019 standard. Their $17-million left fielder<\/a> flopped last year, so they threw $240 million at another corner outfielder to supplement the three most valuable players already in their lineup.<\/p>\n

Still, as Kyle Tucker<\/a> smiled for the cameras at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, it was hard to imagine this one man could sign here and take down the 2027 season.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday the Athletic quoted<\/a> one ownership source that portrayed the Tucker signing as a tipping point that made it \u201ca 100 percent certainty\u201d owners would push for a salary cap when the collective bargaining agreement expires this fall. Owners have been complaining about the Dodgers\u2019 signings of Shohei Ohtani<\/a> and Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a> and Tyler Glasnow<\/a> and Blake Snell<\/a> and Tanner Scott<\/a>, and on and on, and it sounds silly that the signing of one Kyle Daniel Tucker would turn the owners in a direction many of them already indicated they want to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI agree,\u201d said the man who signed him, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If baseball comes up with new rules next year, the Dodgers will abide by them. Until then, Friedman said, their \u201conly focus\u201d is on delivering the best possible product to the fans who pack Dodger Stadium<\/a> every night and shop the team store like crazy. In return, he said, the Dodgers can sell themselves to stars like Tucker.<\/p>\n

\u201cA destination spot is where players and their families feel incredibly well taken care of,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cIf they\u2019re playing in front of 7,000 people, they don\u2019t feel that as much.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying in front of 50,000 people, and seeing the passion and how much people live and die for the Dodgers each summer and each October, I think, adds to the experience and allure of playing here.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said this, which might infuriate some fans and perhaps some owners outside Los Angeles: \u201cThis isn\u2019t just about, let\u2019s spend a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Dodgers\u2019 spending habits border on satire to you, well, the Onion got there first. Two decades ago, when fake news actually meant fake, the Onion ran this headline<\/a>: \u201cYankees Ensure 2003 Pennant By Signing Every Player In Baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Yankees led the major leagues in payroll that year and for the next 10 years. They won the World Series once in that span, in 2009. They have not won since.<\/p>\n

So, when the Dodgers splurged last winter, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner offered a measured response<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that they\u2019re doing,\u201d Steinbrenner told YES Network. \u201cWe\u2019ll see if it pays off.\u201d<\/p>\n

It did. The Dodgers won their second consecutive World Series<\/a>. They made more money on ticket sales alone in 2024 than roughly half the 30 teams made in total revenue<\/a>. Same for their local television revenue.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more: an estimated $200 million in sponsorship revenue<\/a> last year \u2014 thank you, Shohei. In all they took in an estimated $1 billion last year<\/a> \u2014 an MLB record \u2014 meaning they spent close to $600 million<\/a> in player payroll and luxury taxes and still made money.<\/p>\n

At that level the cries that owners of other teams should just spend more start to ring a bit hollow. They should spend more, of course. But the issue is how to persuade owners to spend another $100 million when the Dodgers still might outspend them by $300 million.<\/p>\n

The Yankees can do the kind of things the Dodgers do, and the San Diego Padres have shown how fans in a small market turn out when an owner is more concerned with winning<\/a> than profit. However, the implosion of cable and satellite television means that local media revenues have cratered for teams outside large markets.<\/p>\n

More than half of MLB teams<\/a> never have paid anyone the $240 million the Dodgers committed to Tucker. The Dodgers committed even more to Ohtani, Yamamoto and Mookie Betts.<\/p>\n

The owners could agree that teams should share more revenue, with luxury tax penalties not just in cash but also in restrictions that would hamper the ability to compete, something more significant than the loss of a couple of draft picks.<\/p>\n

But that Tucker deal: The Dodgers committed $64 million in a signing bonus \u2014 never mind the salary! \u2014 to a player they arguably did not need. Owners will be very happy to argue the luxury tax has failed and only a salary cap will stop the Dodgers and New York Mets.<\/p>\n

\"Outfielder <\/p>\n

Kyle Tucker\u2019s contract includes a $64-million signing bonus.<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bola\u00f1os \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

This was part of that Onion satire in 2003: \u201cYankees manager Joe Torre, whose pitching rotation prior to the mass signing lacked a clear seventh ace, now has the luxury of starting each of his hurlers twice a season.<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2018As they say, you can never have enough pitching in this league,\u2019 Torre said.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see: Yamamoto, Ohtani, Snell, Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan. That might be six aces. And, since you never can have enough pitching: Ben Casparius, Kyle Hurt, Landon Knack, River Ryan, Gavin Stone, Justin Wrobleski. There might be a seventh ace in there, or on the trade market during the coming year.<\/p>\n

A salary cap would provide cost certainty that likely would enable owners to sell teams for more money. Whether a salary cap would solve the issue of competitive balance is questionable \u2014 in the capped NFL, the AFC championship game has included either the New England Patriots or Kansas City Chiefs for 15 consecutive years \u2014 but that would be the owners\u2019 pitch.<\/p>\n

So would this: You could compete with the Yankees for the first two decades of this century, but you just can\u2019t compete with these Dodgers, even if that reflects less on payroll and more on management, a dash of October randomness, and that horrendous<\/a> fifth inning<\/a> of Game 5 of the 2024 World Series.<\/p>\n

In 1994, when owners called off the World Series rather than surrender their pursuit of a salary cap, the following season started a month late, and even then the owners did not get a cap. If they really want a cap, baseball insiders say, the owners will have to vow to stick together and support doing what the NHL owners did to secure one: calling off an entire season.<\/p>\n

For the Dodgers and their fans, that is someone else\u2019s problem, at least for this year. In Los Angeles, the prevailing question is not \u201cSalary cap?\u201d but \u201cThree-peat?\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n

Tucker likely will bat \u201csecond or third\u201d in the Dodgers\u2019 lineup, manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said. He\u2019ll better the defense by playing right field, allowing Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> to move to left field.<\/p>\n

Of all the potential offseason acquisitions the Dodgers discussed, Friedman said, \u201cThere was really nobody that moved our World Series odds for 2026 more than Kyle Tucker.\u201d<\/p>\n

I asked Tucker how he felt about supposedly having so much power that his signing could shut down what owners say is a troubled sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think baseball is in a good spot,\u201d Tucker said. \u201cWe have phenomenal attendance around the world. \u2026 Fans are being very supportive of their teams and their players and their organizations. I think it\u2019s a good thing having that interaction with everyone, and I think it\u2019s just going to grow the game from there, as long as we can \u2014 as a league and as players \u2014 continue growing the fan base.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani and the Dodgers are rock stars, as evidenced by the team selling out of $253 seats next to the on-field stage at the annual fan festival<\/a> next week.<\/p>\n

The players will not be playing. They will appear for short interviews with team broadcasters.<\/p>\n

Seats in the stands are available from $28 to $153, for an event that was free three years ago. While fans and owners of other teams complain, the Dodgers shake it off and find ways to make even more money.<\/p>\n

Life is good when you\u2019re the champions. Enjoy it this year, Dodgers fans. If a lockout is happening next January, as it likely will be, the fan festival will not be happening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This was pretty audacious, even by the Dodgers\u2019 standard. Their $17-million left fielder flopped last year, so they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[2135,426,11154,48,52,51,47,50,49,4263,1831,24786,422,427,26336,72258,34761,4470,24642,72,429],"class_list":["post-144469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-baseball","tag-dodgers","tag-fan","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-money","tag-owner","tag-salary-cap","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-team","tag-tucker","tag-tucker-signing","tag-valuable-player","tag-world-series","tag-yankees","tag-year","tag-yoshinobu-yamamoto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}