Where Kyle Tucker’s eye-popping $60-million-a-year Dodgers contract ranks

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Kyle Tucker is going to be rolling in dough in Los Angeles.

Tucker, who turns 29 on Saturday, signed a four-year deal worth $240 million with the Dodgers on Thursday, The Post’s Jon Heyman confirmed.

The contract, which comes out at $60 million per season, is set to be the largest average annual value in MLB history — excluding his teammate Shohei Ohtani’s $70 million-per-year deal, 97.1 percent of which is deferred from 2034-43.


Chicago Cubs' Kyle Tucker (30) points to the sky after hitting a solo home run.
Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Tucker (30) runs the bases after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning of Game 4 of baseball’s National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in Chicago. AP

Similar to Ohtani, Tucker’s deal is expected to have $30 million in deferrals, which puts the net present value of his contract at $57 million per season, breaking Juan Soto’s deal with the Mets by $6 million.

Soto is raking in $51 million a season until 2039 — if he chooses not opt out in 2030.

The Mets’ previous deals with future Hall of Fame pitchers Max Scherzer ($43.33 million) and Justin Verlander ($43.35 million) rank as the fourth- and fifth-largest AAV contracts of all time, respectively.

Ex-Met Zack Wheeler follows Verlander with $42 million per year after signing a three-year, $126 million contract with the Phillies last offseason.

Aaron Judge’s nine-year, $360 million contract with the Yankees comes in at $40 million per season, the most in Yankees history, and ranks seventh of all time.

Following their acquisition of Tucker, the Dodgers are now on the hook for a whopping $2.11 billion of guaranteed salary from 2026-47, according to Spotrac.


Shohei Ohtani looking on from the bench in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series.
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, center, looks on from the bench during the ninth inning in Game 7 of baseball’s World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. AP

Ahead of Tucker’s signing, the Dodgers were projected to have a luxury tax payroll approaching $350 million, according to Cot’s Contracts’ estimates.

Tucker’s deal also has implications of a potential lockout ahead of the 2027 season, as owners are expected to push for a salary cap.

Commissioner Rob Manfred was mum when discussing the upcoming labor negotiations, putting the ball in MLB Players Association director Tony Clark’s court.

“That’s a Tony Clark question, I mean, it really is,” Manfred said during an appearance on WFAN last week. “Until I got elected commissioner, all I did was labor relations. That’s how I made my living. I’ve never been in a negotiation where, before the first piece of paper went across the table, I, or anyone I represented, was out there saying, ‘This, we absolutely will not talk about.’

“I just think it’s a hard way to begin a negotiation.”

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