Toronto Blue Jays get positive news as New York Mets make underwhelming offer to Kyle Tucker

Tuesday's chatter started with Ben Nicholson-Smith relaying Will Sammon reporting that the Mets might be sitting around $120 to $140 million for three years. If that's the neighborhood, it's not a finishing bid, it's a baseline.

We can't see the offer sheet, but the direction tracks with what's been out there for weeks. MLB.com has noted the Mets prefer a shorter-term deal with a higher AAV, while league sources expect the Blue Jays to go longer.

That range matters because it puts a number on the table for everyone else. Toronto, Los Angeles, and any late entrant now know exactly what they have to beat, or what they have to beat in years.

Tucker is good enough that the «years versus dollars» debate is not just theory. He hit .266 with 22 homers, 73 RBIs, and a .841 OPS in 136 games last season.

The Blue Jays have been in on Tucker for quite some time now and it is believed that they are among the top landing spots for the superstar free agent.

As a Jays fan, I read «three years» and immediately think, please let Toronto top it cleanly.

For the Blue Jays, this is leverage disguised as homework. If the Mets are really capped at a short runway, Toronto can win by adding one more year, or by paying a little more per season, without living in $400 million fantasies.

It also sharpens the roster conversation in Toronto. Tucker is a left-handed impact bat who changes how opponents pitch to your righties, and that's the exact kind of lineup pressure the Jays have lacked in tight postseason games.

The human angle is timing, too. Tucker turns 29 on Saturday, and players at that age usually want security, not a series of opt-out poker hands.

If that Mets number is real, the next milestone is when Toronto decides whether it wants to win this with length, with AAV, or with both, because sitting still is the one strategy that guarantees you lose.