These are the reasons why Kyle Tucker received $60 million a year — even if it’s shocking

Let’s play a little game.

Player 1: 22 homers, 73 RBIs.

Players 2: 19 homers, 72 RBIs.

Here’s where this gets fun (and, yes, please spare us the rant about homers and RBIs not mattering, we’ll get to our point shortly).

Player 1 just landed a $240 million contract with a $60 million annual average value, the most for any non-two-way player in MLB history.

Player 2 is perhaps the most unpopular player among fans on his team.

For those guessing, Player 1 is the newest Dodger, Kyle Tucker, while Player 2 is embattled Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe.

Tucker landing with the Dodgers on Thursday did not raise as many questions about how the Dodgers yet again landed a premier free agent with their seemingly never-ending supply of cash, but more of a focus on just how Tucker — a very good-to-elite but non-MVP-level player — landed $60 million per season.

To put that in perspective, he’s making $20 million more per season than Aaron Judge, who has three MVPs to his name, compared to the lone fifth-place AL finish from Tucker in 2023.

He’s making $9 million more per season that Juan Soto, who has five top-six MVP finishes.

Heck, he’s making roughly $35 million more on average per season than two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper.

Obviously, contracts are signed at different times and in different markets. Tucker would not have been the top free agent last year with Soto, but this year’s class lacked elite position players.

MLB is not like football, though, where each quarterback that signs a deal precedes the previous one in terms of setting the record for the position.

The Dodgers didn’t have to pay Tucker $60 million to top some previous deal, yet both they and the Mets — who offered $220 million over four years and then pivoted to signing Bo Bichette on Friday — had no problems doing so.

So, there’s clearly a reason.

Let’s start with his age.

Tucker turns 29 on Saturday, and team are always willing to pay a premium for players already in or entering their prime.

Judge signed his nine-year, $360 million deal before his age-31 season. Soto received his 15-year, $765 million deal prior to his age-26 campaign.

Teams want to play players entering their prime, and they’re more willing to do so for players who have their best years ahead of them versus those exiting that stage.

Then, there’s his Baseball Savant page (we apologize for the nerdiness in advance).

When you take a look at Tucker’s profile, there is a whole lot of red and that’s a really good thing.

He ranked in the 98th percentile in chase rate, 96th percentile in walk rate, 93rd percentile in expected weighted on-base average), 90th percentile in batting run value and 85th percentile in strikeout rate.

Those are categories that teams emphasize.

Tucker is a player who controls the zone, walks a ton and doesn’t strike out a lot.

Those players are extremely valued in today’s sport.

Let’s compare him to Judge and Soto in these metrics for 2025.

Tucker ranks very well in those categories, although he’s clearly not on Judge and Soto’s level.

Looking beyond just 2025, Tucker ranks 10th in both weighted runs created plus over the last five years and wins above replacement.

He’s been a very, very good player for the last five years, although he has yet to truly have an elite season that puts him in the talk for the best players in the sport.

One other point to consider is that the Dodgers may have been paying up now for a premium bat knowing they won’t be doing so in the near future.

The next two free agent markets are rather bad for hitters, with next winter’s class being headlined by Jazz Chisholm Jr., Nico Hoerner and perhaps Dalton Varsho.

The 2027 class features William Contreras, Freddie Freeman (who will be 38) and Jeremy Pena.

Those players — excluding Freeman, who will be 38 at the time — are not at the franchise cornerstone level where they are worth hundreds of millions.

You add these factors together, and while it’s OK to disagree, the Dodgers felt that giving Tucker more money per year than Judge and Soto made sense in their quest for a three-peat.