Yankees news: Kyle Tucker unlikely for New York?
Kevin Winterhalt has been a writer at Pinstripe Alley since April 2021. He is a graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder, specializing in Diplomatic U.S. History.
The Sporting News | Matt Sullivan: Outfielder Kyle Tucker is the cream of the crop of this year’s free agent class and his name has been linked to the Yankees ad nauseam for weeks. But, if Jon Heyman is to be believed, it’s not likely that King Tuck will end up in the Bronx (or Queens). Speaking on MLB Network, Heyman opined: “You know, you hear speculation about the New York teams, I don’t see that. The New York teams have pretty good right fielders; they have Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. I’m not seeing that.”
Now. To be fair. He was also very confident that Aaron, or at least Arson, Judge was headed to San Francisco, so he doesn’t have a 100-percent hit rate. With
Sports Info Solutions | Mark Simon: Speaking of Tucker, his name shows up on Simon’s list of the best defensive players available in free agency. He’s not the only likely Yankee target on the list though. Cody Bellinger, whose hypothetical return probably would not shock anyone, played the outfield exceptionally well in 2025, especially when he was in one of the corners. Belli has seven Runs Saved in left field and eight in right, with six Outfield Arm Runs Saved, the second-most in the majors last season. As noted, Tucker appears, as does former Yankee Harrison Bader, who’s testing free agency this offseason as well.
MLB | Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis: With the Rule 5 Draft approaching, Mayo and Callis pick the toughest decision for each organization in MLB this offseason. For the Yankees, they identify 26-year-old right-handed pitcher Harrison Cohen. The Yanks signed him as an undrafted free agent out of George Washington University. Mayo and Callis note that while his fastball is nothing special, his secondary offerings have been nigh-unhittable, leading to success at Double- and Triple-A (1.76 ERA and a .151 opposing BA) this past season.
ESPN | Jeff Passan: Not Yankees related, but it’s worth noting that the first major offseason domino has fallen. On Sunday night, Josh Naylor agreed to a five-year deal with the Seattle Mariners; local Seattle sources indicated that the contract will land somewhere in the $90-$100 million range. Naylor was dealt to Seattle at the deadline and Passan reports he was one of the M’s major offseason priorities. Looks like they got their man.
Canucks Are Really Missing Pius Suter This Season
Shortly after Filip Chytil was acquired from the New York Rangers in the trade for JT Miller, he went down with a concussion and ended up missing the rest of the season. Then,
Suter finished the season with a career-high 25 goals and 46 points, and for some reason, the Canucks felt the Swiss Army knife wasn’t essential enough to re-sign in the offseason
Suter’s 2024-25 Season Doesn’t Appear to Be a Flash in the Pan
Re-signing Suter to a lucrative contract was always going to be a gamble after his career-best season across the board. While he was remarkably consistent, hitting 14 or 15 goals every season since his debut with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2020-21, no one confused him for a top-six centre
Well, fast-forward 19 games into the 2025-26 season, and Suter is seemingly proving that it wasn’t. While his ice time has dropped back down to his career average, he’s still producing at a high rate, along with being his usual elite two-way self. He’s tied for second on the Blues in goals with five, and tied for fourth in points with 10. He’s also their top option on the penalty kill, leading all forwards in shorthanded ice time with an average of 1:24 per game. Basically, he’s doing everything he did last season, just in the Blue Note instead of the Orca, something I’m sure general manager Patrik Allvin is regretting right now.
Canucks Missing Suter on the PK
Last season, the Canucks’ penalty kill was one of their strengths, finishing third in the NHL at 82.6 percent. The duo that led the way in shorthanded ice time were Suter and Blueger at 185:24 (2:17 per game) and 172:50 (2:06 per game), respectively. This season, they are dead last at a lowly 66.1 percent, a drop of 16.5 percentage points. While two players don’t make a successful penalty kill, the fact that Blueger has only played two games and 5:45 on the PK and Suter is no longer on the roster, and the Canucks are languishing in the basement 19 games into the season, is no coincidence.
Suter and Blueger were one of the best penalty-killing duos in the league last season, and Canucks management should have considered that when deciding whether to bring Suter back or not. Not having it as an option this season has really hurt their PK and might be why they miss the playoffs. Suter’s penalty-killing skills alone should have been worth the money he got in free agency.
Canucks Could Really Use Suter in the Top 6 Right Now
Before signing David Kampf to a one-year contract on Saturday, the Canucks’ centre depth included Pettersson, Lukas Reichel (who’s not a natural centre), Raty, and Sasson. With Blueger and Chytil injured, it was one of the thinnest groups in the NHL. While Kampf will help the bottom-six and penalty kill, he isn’t much of a scorer and likely won’t move the needle offensively.
Even if Suter were still on the roster, the Canucks probably would have signed Kampf anyway, but their top six would have looked much better. Suter is still producing like a top-six forward in St. Louis and playing the role of second-line centre, something Allvin has been looking for on the trade market all season. The thing is, he had one in his grasp before Suter hit the free agent market on July 1.
While president Jim Rutherford revealed in a recent interview that Suter wanted to come back, the term and money apparently weren’t enough for him to turn down the Blues’ offer. He cited “miscommunication on term,” saying they were willing to go beyond the two years he got in St. Louis, but that “it didn’t work out.”
Regardless, Allvin and Rutherford should have made him a priority before another team could offer him anything. They had control over negotiations way before July 1, but seemingly didn’t feel he was valuable enough to really dig in and get something done. So far this season, that has turned into a massive misstep on their part.
Canucks Hope Kampf Can Help Fill Suter’s Shoes
As mentioned, Kampf should help fill the void Suter left on the PK and defensively, but not in the goals and points department. His career high is 11 goals, set in 2021-22, and that was the only season he has hit double digits. His production is comparable to Blueger’s – bottom-six numbers. Other than that, though, Kampf is pretty much like Suter, a versatile Swiss Army knife that is good defensively with a high hockey IQ and work ethic. Who knows, he might surprise us and do more offensively than we think.
However, that doesn’t negate the fact that the Canucks made a mistake not re-signing Suter. With him in the lineup – even with all the injuries – they might be well above .500, given his ability to kill penalties and generate offence. The struggling penalty kill has been a reason for a lot of losses this season already, and the Canucks underestimated how valuable he was, not only to the PK, but to the rest of the team as well.
