Kyle Tucker... A DODGER!

January 16, 2026

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While the Yankees make excuses, the Dodgers continue to go for it.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, the two-time reigning World Champions, the team that is absolutely, 100%, no-doubt-about-it, going for it, are determined to win it all again in 2026. It was announced late last night that they will be signing Kyle Tucker.

MLBTR has the story: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/01/dodgers-to-sign-kyle-tucker.html

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There was a time, not too long ago, when the Yankees were the team that went big every year. There was a time when championship banners hung in the Bronx.

As the Yankees celebrate their collection of consecutive .500 (or better) seasons, the Dodgers continue to set a higher standard.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have finished in first or second place in every season since 2013. In 12 of those 13 seasons, they have finished in first place. In their one second-place season, they won 106 games. The Dodgers have finished a combined one game out of first place over the last 13 years! In that period, the Dodgers have been to the postseason every single season. The Dodgers have reached the NLCS eight times and have been in the World Series five times with 3 World Championships. This in a period when we are told by some that MLB has made it impossible to have sustained greatness. The Dodgers disprove that talking point absolutely and completely.

In that same period, since 2012, the Yankees have finished in first place only four times. They have also not reached the playoffs four times. In two of the Yankees postseason appearances in that time, their postseason lasted for only one game. The Yankees have finished a combined 83 games out of first place in that period. They have reached the ALCS four times, losing three of them. The Yankees have been to one World Series - losing to the Dodgers. The Yankees have not won a World Championship since 2009. (But watch for the marketing as the new season starts to come... the Yankees will be sure to advertise that they are baseball's greatest team. The Yankees' greatness is ancient history. The Dodgers are baseball's greatest team today - and have been for a very long time now.)

The Yankees strive for good. They've been good. They have not been great.

The Dodgers strive for greatness. They've been great. They are great. And the continue to strive to be the best, which they have been.

There was a time when the New York Yankees set the standard for greatness. There was a time when the Yankees brand represented excellence - being the best. Those attributes are now represented by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Yankees have the wherewithal to change that narrative. They simply choose not to. (Or, the only other explanation is that the Yankees do not have the front office acumen to compete at the highest levels any longer.)

This offseason, the Dodgers signed the top available relief pitcher (Edwin Diaz) and the league's best free agent hitter (Tucker). They did this after winning the World Series.

The Yankees continue to make small moves, signing minor leaguers, international players of little note, and making small trades. (The biggest trade the Yankees made netted them Ryan Weathers, a starting pitcher who has never reached 100 innings in a season, has a lifetime 12-23 record, and whose career ERA+ is 85.)

The difference between the Dodgers and the Yankees can be summed up with this simple note:

Yesterday the Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker. On the same day, the Yankees signed Paul Blackburn.