Leaked Kyle Tucker Mets offer proves why Yankees didn't pivot from Cody Bellinger

When the news first dropped that the Yankees had offered Cody Bellinger $30+ million per season, we theorized that it told us a lot more about their Kyle Tucker evaluation than Bellinger's market. After all, if they were willing to go to such a high AAV to land a player whose numbers often disagree with his metrics, why wouldn't they do the same for the top free agent outfielder on the market?

As it turns out, the Bellinger offer might not have told us all that much about their opinion on Tucker. Instead, the reported Mets offer for Tucker's services told us everything about why the Yankees were happy to go to $30M on one player, but not the other: namely, the reality that $30M wouldn't get them anywhere close to Tucker.

The latest buzz indicates that Tucker is entertaining the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Toronto Blue Jays. For an eternity, the Jays seemed to be a lone wolf, sitting and waiting to make the AL East a tick or two tougher for the Yanks.

Now? Toronto may still get 'er done, but the Mets are in a stratosphere the Yankees would never touch, reaching $50 million per season on their latest pitch, according to FanSided's MLB insider Robert Murray.

Yankees never stood a chance in Kyle Tucker market after Mets' reported bid

Yeah, so ... once again, there's no way that Tucker was ever a realistic Yankees pivot, even as they tried to appear interested in other baubles while the Bellinger conversation hit an impasse. Jack Curry tried to tell you. So did we.

Whether you agree with the Yankees' prioritization or not, at the very least, the latest Tucker developments should show you that "Bellinger? Why not Tucker?" wasn't an elementary either-or. The Yankees would've had to allocate an additional $20 million per season just to get into the conversation for Tucker. That doesn't take into account whether the offseason's top prize prefers a long-term contract to these shorter-term offers. It also doesn't account for Joel Sherman's evaluation, based on whispers that Tucker might not be as passionate about the game of baseball as you'd like to see from someone of his forthcoming financial status.

The Cubs, the team that just employed him, splurged for Alex Bregman, but weren't involved in Tucker's market. Is that purely financial, or is there something else to stroke our chins about there?

Regardless of where the Yankees land and whether they reel in any sort of fish, it should be plainly obvious that it would take double the artillery to even dance with Tucker. Some could argue they should. But no one can argue they could've just aimed their Bellinger efforts elsewhere and landed a bigger prize.