The longtime lead-off man for the Jays was spotted with star free agent Kyle Tucker at the TGL match between Atlanta and The Bay on Tuesday night in Palm Springs, Fla.
The duo were teammates in the outfield for the Houston Astros from 2018 to 2020. Michael Brantley, another former Astros outfielder, was also spotted with them at the match.
The Blue Jays have been one of the more aggressive pursuers of Tucker, who is widely viewed as the top free agent available this winter.
In December, Tucker toured the Blue Jays’ spring training facilities in Dunedin, Fla.
“We sat upstairs for about an hour, an hour-and-a-half, talked through kind of where the organization is, where the organization is heading, both from a team, roster-building standpoint, from an ownership standpoint, and he talked baseball,” manager John Schneider told Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae about the meeting with Tucker.
Tucker, who turns 29 next week, would potentially replace Springer as the everyday lead-off man if he joined the Blue Jays. The rightfielder combines speed and power into a formidable offensive profile. Last season with the Chicago Cubs, Tucker hit 22 home runs and had a .841 OPS with 25 stolen bases.
