Atlanta Braves fans, along with a majority of baseball fans, probably weren't surprised to learn the Dodgers once again signed one of the offseason's top free agents. However, the size of the contract was a bit more exuberant than most expected. Fans learned on Thursday evening that outfielder Kyle Tucker agreed to a four-year, $240 million deal with Los Angeles.
That comes out to an absurd $60 million annual average value (AAV). His contract does include an opt-out after the second and third seasons. This made for the second-highest AAV for a player behind Shohei Ohtani, who has a $70 million AAV.
Kyle Tucker's four-year, $240 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers includes opt-outs after the second and third seasons, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 16, 2026
An enormous windfall for the best free agent available. And the champs get even better. @ByRobertMurray was on top of the money.
Dodgers continue to be the villains of baseball after ludicrous multi-year deal with Kyle Tucker
This doesn't provide baseball fans with a lot of good faith in the state of Major League Baseball right now. The fears of a lockout after the 2026 season will likely continue to grow. Some popular baseball pundits have stated the Dodgers aren't doing anything wrong, but it's hard to imagine how many teams can actually afford to spend like this.
The cards feel stacked against teams that don't have the kind of spending ability LA has. Tucker also had offers from the Mets and Blue Jays, but landed where most fans probably expected him to. There are a couple of silver linings for Braves fans, including the Mets not getting him (lol Mets) and Atlanta not having to spend $60 million on one player. While it feels like the Dodgers sign everyone right now, the fact is that Atlanta (and a few others) have built teams close to as good as LA for a fraction of the cost and use methods that have a chance of surviving under the next CBA.
According to the numbers on Spotrac, the Dodgers have a luxury tax payroll of $416,417,413. This is almost double the amount the Braves have on the books currently, at $266,795,000. It's even more absurd when you see the Marlins, who are dead last in luxury tax payroll, at $100,146,666 right now.
Dodgers fans may say other fan bases are just jealous their teams didn't spend to get Tucker. However, that's easy for them to say when they reap the benefits of being fans of arguably the richest team in baseball.
It is infuriating when one isn't being blinded by rose colored glasses. They don't see the impact this has on other teams and how they cannot possibly compete with this kind of frivolous spending. It's almost like there is no budget to be concerned about.
The good news for Atlanta is that they have already built a good roster for almost half the cost. There's still room for them to make the team even better, and hopefully, with Tucker off the board, they can get to work.