PHOENIX –– It was a prototypical sales pitch, save for one determinative question.
A final character check, before a blockbuster transaction.
In the final days of Kyle Tucker’s free agency this offseason, the Dodgers hosted a video call with the four-time All-Star that –– for the most part –– was designed to sell him on the team.
Sitting alongside his wife, Samantha, Tucker heard from president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, general manager Brandon Gomes and manager Dave Roberts. He listened to them explain the making of the Dodgers’ current dynasty, how the team helps even superstar acquisitions improve on the field, and all the myriad ways the club caters to players and their families off of it.
Before the call ended, however, Friedman turned the tables on the eventual $240 million signee.
He could feel momentum building toward a deal. He could sense the mutual interest between the two parties.
But if the Dodgers were going to make a nearly quarter-billion-dollar investment in Tucker, there was something they needed to be sold on, too.
“It was just getting into our environment, and what our guys do to prepare,” Friedman recalled of the conversation to The California Post this week. “They do an incredible job of setting the standard. So the challenge is: Is that something you’re up for?”
For as good as Tucker has been over the last six seasons, after all, the Dodgers felt there was another level he had yet to tap into.
Even though the 29-year-old boasts two Silver Sluggers, one Gold Glove and one World Series ring –– having posted the 11th-most wins above replacement among position players since 2020, according to Fangraphs –– he lacked a signature season in which his transcendent skill set was at full effect.
“As you look back over his career, obviously he’s had some incredible years,” Friedman noted.
Yet, Tucker’s best finish in an MVP race was fifth, back in 2022. And in recent years, his performance had been impacted by a string of injuries that limited his playing time, as well as a defensive decline in right field that contributed to public questions about his commitment level.
“We feel like, with where he’s at, getting a complete season out of him on both sides of the ball is very attainable,” Friedman said. “And we feel like, in our environment, we can help bring that out of him even more.”
Thus, Friedman posed his question over the offseason video call.
And a couple months later, recounting Tucker’s answer still brought a smile to his face.
“We had a great conversation on it,” Friedman said, “and he was all-in.”
Gold Glove goal
When asked last week how Tucker could level up now that he’s with the Dodgers, hitting coach Aaron Bates lacked much of an answer.
“I don’t know, he’s been a pretty good player over the last five, six years,” Bates quipped. “Last year, he was basically the best player in baseball before he got hurt.”
Indeed, when healthy, there’s rarely been a question about the threat Tucker poses at the plate.
He is an on-base machine, thanks to a disciplined approach that has helped him avoid even a single 100-strikeout season. He also brings power, owning a pair of 30-homer campaigns, and underrated speed, having eclipsed 25 steals three times.
Last year with the Cubs, a hairline hand fracture led to a second-half slump for the lefty slugger, who slashed .291/.395/.537 through June but just .225/.348/.342 thereafter.
However, the Dodgers are confident that issue is now behind him, holding high hopes about what he will do as their new No. 2 hitter sandwiched between Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in the lineup.
“I wouldn’t put limitations on what he’s capable of doing when he’s healthy, especially as he enters his prime years,” Bates said. “But if he can just be himself, that’s plenty good enough.”
That’s why, this spring, the Dodgers’ real focus with Tucker has been on the defensive side of the ball –– hoping to couple his elite offensive production with resurgent play in right field, as well.
That was the impetus for Friedman’s question to Tucker in the offseason. It was also the first factor Roberts pointed to when asked recently where Tucker can improve in 2026.
“That’s something he self-admitted he wants to get better at,” Roberts said. “I don’t see why he can’t be in the conversation of being one of the elite right fielders in the game.”
It wasn’t long ago Tucker’s defense was of that caliber. When he won his Gold Glove in 2022, his 15 defensive runs saved were tied with Betts for most among MLB right fielders.
Since then, however, Tucker has suffered stark regression.
Over the last three years, MLB’s Statcast system has graded both his outfield range and ability to get jumps off the ball as below league-average. Last season, he posted a negative mark in DRS, ranking worse than even new teammate Teoscar Hernández.
Granted, injuries have been a factor. In 2024, he missed three months with a shin fracture. Last year, he was sidelined for much of September with a calf strain.
Still, the fundamentals of his play also slipped.
“He talked about the importance of getting back to where he was defensively, and how he had kinda gotten away from his routine,” Friedman said, referring back to Tucker’s offseason video call. “But he was all-in for getting into a daily routine. Because those are the things we can control.”
Tucker himself opened up on that dynamic to reporters last week, citing the need to be better at everything from reading balls off the bat to cutting them off in the gaps. He pointed to how that “doesn’t always show up in the score box, but it’s huge from a team winning standpoint.”
“You’re never gonna be perfect in baseball or in sports, but you can always have room for improvement,” Tucker added. “So I just try and get better every day at whatever aspect of my game there is.”
And what would a “better” version of Tucker look like this year?
“I don’t know,” he answered. “Hopefully, we can find out.”
Seamless transition
Part of the Dodgers’ faith in Tucker is rooted in their past experiences with other star-caliber arrivals.
In the last half-decade, they’ve taken big swings by acquiring Betts, Freeman and Ohtani, among others. And in each case, they’ve watched those superstars make a seamless transition to the organization, flourishing on the field while strengthening the club’s culture behind the scenes.
“Obviously, there’s a selection bias,” Friedman said. “The guys that we invest long-term in, they possess those traits.”
Time will tell if Tucker can follow in those footsteps. For now, his pact with the team is only short-term; a four-year deal including player opt-outs after the second and third seasons.
That means, in all likelihood, he will be back on the market in the next couple offseasons, hoping to parlay his success with the Dodgers into another lucrative contract.
But if all goes well in Los Angeles, he’s the kind of player the team can envision re-signing long-term, too.
“In two years, we’ll know a lot more about a lot of things than we do now,” Friedman said the day of Tucker’s introductory news conference in January, after their productive video call helped consummate his official signing. “Just because he opts out doesn’t mean we won’t be there to try to sign him.”
To this point, after all, Tucker has said and done all the right things –– taking the challenge Friedman posed during his recruiting process, and committing to meet it as he enters his highly-anticipated debut Dodger season.
“I just think he’s a heckuva player,” Roberts said. “For me, it’s just continue to be who you are, and we’ll see where it takes us.”
