Kyle Tucker is Great, but Overpriced and a Bad Fit on the Yankees

By E.J. Fagan

November 6, 2025

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NOTE: The following comes from EJ Fagan's substack page and is shared with permission.

Please check out EJ's substack page for more great articles.

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Kyle Tucker is the top free agent available this offseason. He’s always been a pretty great hitter. Here’s what he did in 2025:

That’s a pretty great Statcast page, especially considering how much his power dropped off after he broke his hand in June. Tucker is peak Astros with a disciplined, high contact approach. He ranks 10th in both wRC+ and fWAR among MLB hitters since 2021. Tucker’s fWAR is as consistent as it gets: 4.9 fWAR in 2021, 2022, 2023, 4.2 fWAR n 2024 (72 games), 4.5 fWAR in 2025.

He’s also a pull lefty who would hit a few more home runs every year in Yankee Stadium. He turns 29 in January, putting his aging curve comfortably behind Judge and Fried.

So, it’s easy to see why the Yankees might be interested in Tucker. He would be a great left-handed complement to Aaron Judge. If they diagnose their problems as a lack of hard contact hitters, he’s as good as they come.

But I think the Yankees should probably pass on this one. Two reasons.

First, he’s going to be way overpaid. Pretty much everyone is projecting that Tucker earns something like 12 years, $460 million. I think that a team that signs Tucker to that kind will regret is pretty quickly.

I’m not confident that he’ll age well for the second reason: defense and athleticism. Tucker is already really slow for an outfielder. He’s been a minus right fielder for three straight seasons. It’s only a matter of time before he’s unplayable in the outfield, and that time could be even sooner when the outfield he’d be defending is Yankee Stadium left field. Like with Juan Soto, the team would struggle to find a spot for him to play on the same day as Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.

Will I be excited if the Yankees sign Tucker? Sure, it’s not my money. Maybe he decides to do a Bryce Harper and move to first base once he’s paid. But given limited resources, I’d rather the team spend the money elsewhere.

Now please someone from the National League sign him. Just not the Dodgers.