Yankees insider just tried to nuke Kyle Tucker's market with strange revelation

Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger has been a debate that has been raging among the New York Yankees community all winter. Both players have cases to be made in their favor, with some preferring Bellinger thanks to his standout 2025 showing in New York, while others point out that anything Bellinger does, Tucker can do better.

Of course, it's not as simple as choosing one over the other, as the Yankees' true desires might simply be to lower payroll, making a deal with either in-demand outfielder simply unfeasible.

If we assume, though, that the Yankees will spend enough to land one of these big fish, then the question becomes which is the better value. There's a way in which Bellinger gives off DJ LeMahieu vibes, and a long-term deal could look horrendous on the back-end. However, the New York Post's Joel Sherman raises a concern about Tucker that we haven't heard before, wondering aloud if Tucker truly loves playing the game of baseball.

Yankees insider Joel Sherman's questioning of Kyle Tucker's desire to play baseball could sink his market

In the era of mega contracts, we've been led to believe since last winter that Tucker was next in line to get a mammoth deal. Even coming off a relatively down year, the soon-to-be 29-year-old has been expected to get a $400 million contract for much of the winter.

Aside from the Yankees, almost all of Bellinger's top suitors are also in play for Tucker, making Sherman's wondering aloud about Tucker's commitment all the more curious.

With some concerns over Bellinger's ability to hold up over a six-plus-year deal given his past volatility, this smacks of propaganda being fed to Sherman by Bellinger's agent, Scott Boras.

Boras is notorious for his relationships with certain insiders, giving them both good information as well as his approved spin as he seeks to extract the most money possible for his clients.

This is the first we're hearing of any sort of commitment questions regarding Tucker, and to be fair to the former Chicago Cubs star, no evidence of this has ever been seen on the field.

As a result, it certainly feels like some sort of gambit to cut down his market and make Bellinger appear as the safer, more appealing option, maximizing his chances for a big payday in the process.

The inverse could also happen. Just because a concern, valid or not, is raised about Tucker, that doesn't erase the ones that plague Bellinger. After all, as good as Bellinger was in 2025, he was non-tendered by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the winter of 2022, and after his resurgent 2023 campaign, he regressed in 2024 to the point that he came to the Yankees as a salary dump.

That history is something tangible that we can grab onto, while the Tucker speculation is just one guy's opinion. At the end of the day, perhaps that leads Tucker to the Yankees at a cost lower than anyone expects ... or maybe the gambit works, and the Yankees or someone else overpay Bellinger, believing him to be the safer option. Only time will tell, so stay tuned.