LOS ANGELES — Imagine being paid $60 million a year to be one of the guys.
Imagine being compensated more handsomely than all but one other person – er, Unicorn – in the history of your professional field, but still not feeling any more pressure to produce than your co-workers.
Granted, those guys, those co-workers, they’re the other members of the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers. They’re like baseball’s “Avengers,” just a lot less quippy – though similarly profitable, box office gold.
Imagine being Kyle Tucker, the Dodgers’ new right fielder, who smiled demurely and clasped his hands before him while he said all the right things Wednesday during his introductory news conference, as if he was still interviewing for the job as baseball’s second-best-paid man.
“I mean, this lineup is pretty good regardless” of his place in it, Tucker said. “I’m excited to be a part of the group and just try and pick the brains of the guys in the clubhouse and see what makes them better. And you know, they might do stuff that I might not do and vice versa, and we can just kind of build each other up.”
Imagine signing a four-year, $240 million contract and talking like a rookie draft pick eager to learn and looking to fit in and not someone who is expected to put a team on his back or feel responsible for filling the bleachers every night.
Imagine not being the franchise’s focal point even though, effectively, you’ll be earning more than the guy who is, Shohei Ohtani, because the two-way sensation’s 10-year, $700 million deal is largely deferred.
Imagine being Tucker and signing the contract that will allegedly break baseball and being free still to focus on the little things: “If you’re able to move guys over, hit a grounder to second to get a guy in from third, draw walks or make a pitcher work or make a play on defense – little things like that can add up to a lot of wins throughout a season.”
The Dodgers will want a little more substantial a return on their investment than that, I imagine. But Tucker could fulfill all of Manager Dave Roberts’ rosiest projections – “I think there’s another Gold Glove in there … I think there’s more runs scored in there, he’s going to have the ability to drive in runs … an MVP candidate? Absolutely.” – and still the sticker shock on his contract won’t ever totally fade.
But the Dodgers overpaid because they did the math and figured Tucker was the fortunate free agent who moved the dial most in regard to improving their odds of winning a third consecutive World Series title.
And that’s the only calculation that matters – to them. They’re not hunting for bargains, they’re after championships.
And Tucker, 29, a four-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger, Gold Glove winner and member of the Houston Astros’ 2022 World Series championship club, gets them closer to the goal.
So the Dodgers outbid the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets, because they were determined to shore up their outfield, to get a bit younger, a bit faster, to fortify their already fearsome lineup – and to take advantage of what’s left of their time before baseball imposes a salary cap as retribution for their outsized financial commitment to winning.
Imagine thinking the Dodgers’ brain trust won’t figure out how to win whenever a salary cap is introduced. As Roberts told The Athletic recently: “We have an organization that whatever the rules and constrictions are, we’re going to dominate.”
Imagine getting paid more than anyone in their wildest dreams ever could have assumed they would be to play for that organization now, with all the momentum at its back and an astronomical budget still to maintain it.
Imagine also getting to live in L.A. and to chip in on the Dodgers’ next championship chase. I imagine that’s going to feel like Christmas in July – and April, May, June, September and October.
“This team, obviously, is very good,” said Tucker, after slipping out of his suit jacket and into his new No. 23 Dodgers jersey – changing out of business attire and into business attire.
“I’m just excited to be a part of that group and just trying to build myself up on a personal level but also contribute with everyone else … you play so many games that can kind of get to you a little bit, but we’re working with this group of guys, I think it’s gonna make it a lot of fun.”
Yeah, Tucker is going to fit right in as another one of these guys. Supremely talented ballplayers who are serious about their craft, none of whom talk a big game, but who let their games do the talking. All the way to the bank.