The Los Angeles Dodgers went big again in free agency, but the two moves that were supposed to give them another boost have instead become the story of disappointment.
ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle pointed to Kyle Tucker and Edwin Diaz as the team’s “biggest disappointments” of the 2026 season, and the numbers back up the harsh label. The pair is making $47 million this year, and the return has been far from what the Dodgers expected when they brought them in to chase a third straight World Series title.
Doolittle didn’t mince words about how those signings have played out.
"The Dodgers' splash signings of Tucker and Edwin Diaz in last season's free agency were the cause of much handwringing about L.A.'s economic dominance," Doolittle writes. "While those high-level, targeted acquisitions looked like no-brainers at the time, the first year of both deals could hardly have gone worse."
Tucker, who signed a four-year, $240 million contract, has produced 0.5 bWAR with 15 home runs, a .227 batting average and a 94 OPS+ across nearly 500 at-bats. For a player brought in as a premier bat, that’s a letdown.
Diaz has had an even rougher year. In 16 outings, he’s posted a -1.3 bWAR and an 11.85 ERA, giving up 18 runs in 13.2 innings with a 36 ERA+, the worst figure of his MLB career.
Together, Tucker and Diaz have combined for -0.8 bWAR, a brutal mark for two of the biggest names on last offseason’s market. Diaz has been the bigger problem, but Tucker’s production has also fallen well short of the standard the Dodgers were buying.
The club’s recent loss of Shohei Ohtani to the injured list is also a disappointment, but it doesn’t come close to matching the level of underperformance from Tucker and Diaz.
Their arrivals drew plenty of frustration from fans around MLB, and so far the Dodgers have gotten negative value from both. For a team that spent to load up for another championship run, these two signings have been major free-agent busts.
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