@dodgerpatch Duran's not doing great--but is he really doing worse than the guy getting paid $60 million per season??? Nope. In fact, while his batting average is just .204, he's also hit 20 HRs. He's producing mor bang for the bucks-- a lot more--than Tucker.
Wilyer Abreu was another possibility, if AF was willing to wheel and deal. But apparently he just preferred to write up a $240 million, 4-year contract.
Are you the president of the Kyle Tucker Fan Club or something? Are you actually happy about his performance?
And yes, an OF with Outman in CF instead of Conforto in LF would have been far superior on defense while roughly breaking even on offense. Do you not recall how badly Conforto sucked? Outman could have been platooned in CF, perhaps with Edman. Conforto was limited to LF, which meant Teo would be sub-par in RF. If CF was a problem, the Dodgers could fix it at the trade deadline. Outman's contract was eventually moved for Brock Stewart. But Conforto's $17 million contract was too big to fail: Nobody was going to take that albatross. The Dodgers wound up getting Call in part to deal with the suckage.
Yes, it's good that Tucker didn't sign a 10-year contract. He won't be blocking a prospect who is now in junior high. But he'll be out there for three more seasons while Tibbs, de Paula, Sirota, Quintero, Davalan, Ehrhard and Kendall George are knocking on the door.
"You have to pay for a shorter commitment." No, you don't have to pay for anything. You can say no way to $60 million--good luck with the Mets. The Dodgers had other options.
At $60 million per season, he should be doing the heavy lifting on this offense, right? So when is it going to start?
All that $$$--and he's the weak link.