Looks like Dodgers GM has a bit of spending money on hand when looking to upgrade team.
With Monday's General Managers meetings kicking off in Las Vegas, the Los Angeles Dodgers are among the teams looking to upgrade their rosters.
Sure, the Dodgers are just finishing up (if they're finished at all) celebrating a second straight World Series championship. Still, big-name free agents are seeing their names in lights as bright as Frank Sinatra's back in the glory days of The Sands in Vegas.
But the Dodgers do have some free money at hand with Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes already hard at work.
"Just freed up $87 million, with Clayton Kershaw, Michael Conforto, Chris Taylor and Kirby Yates off the books," USA Today MLB columnist Bob Nightengale wrote in a column on Monday. "They’ll still be aggressive as anyone and will come away at the least with a high-priced closer."
With that in mind, who among the big-name free agents are reportedly on the Dodgers' target list? Don't be surprised if Kyle Tucker might find himself in Dodger Blue next season. At least, Los Angeles is one of the landing spots pointed out by Nightengale.
"Tucker, a native of Tampa, will sign with the Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays or Los Dodgers, GMs predict," according to Nightengale. "The San Francisco Giants are a dark horse, but considering they still owe Rafael Devers $250 million, are in the second year of a seven-year, $182 million contract with Willy Adames and the second of a six-year, $151 million extension with Matt Chapman, there’s only so many nine-figure contracts the Giants can seemingly afford."
Nightengale also points out that the Blue Jays might just be the favorites for Tucker's services.
Wouldn't that be something if the Dodgers end up outbidding their hated rivals the Giants for Tucker? It would be another feather in the hat for Los Angeles.
Kershaw, of course, let the baseball world know ahead of the Dodgers' postseason run that he was going to retire after the 2025 MLB season. It was certainly a nice turn for Kershaw to add yet another World Series championship to his ready-made resume for the Baseball Hall of Fame when he gets in there in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Tucker had a so-so season with the Chicago Cubs after signing a big free-agent deal with the club. Tucker came to the Cubs after winning two World Series titles with the Houston Astros. Tucker even caught the series-clinching fly ball in the 2022 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Dodgers' brass is probably already clinking glasses with other GMs around the big leagues as they get down to business in Sin City.