Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider had nothing to hide when discussing the tour star free agent Kyle Tucker took of the team's player development complex in Dunedin, Fla.
Tucker, born and raised in nearby Tampa, Fla., visited the Blue Jays state-of-the-art facility on Dec. 3, and Toronto has been rumoured as a potential landing spot for the 28-year-old. He is widely considered to be the top free-agent position player on the market.
Schneider was candid when discussing the meeting with Sportsnet's Hazel Mae on Tuesday.
"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," said the Blue Jays skipper.
"It was pretty cool."
Tucker, most valued for his all-around skillset than any one particular outlier ability, has hit between 22-to-30 home runs and stolen 25-to-30 bases in each of his last three full seasons. He's also exhibited exceptional control of the strike zone, ranking top-10 in MLB in both on base percentage (.380) and walk rate (13.9 per cent) amongst qualified hitters over the last three seasons.
"I think it was very, very clear that he's confident in the batter's box," said Schneider. "This dude can hit. And the things he talked about which were impressive to us, he talked about his defence, he talked about his base running, he talked about his baseball IQ – what he looks for when he is playing defence, certain tells in a pitcher to try to get 25 bags instead of 20. So it was pretty cool to hear that part of his game."
Fresh off a heartbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series, the Blue Jays have been aggressive adding to their pitching staff, signing one of the top starters available in Dylan Cease and last season's KBO MVP, Cody Ponce.
And while Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer hitting free agency made pitching the Blue Jays' primary need, Tucker would serve as a significant upgrade in a corner-outfield spot.
"It was very productive," said Schneider. "Again, great, great player. And it's not a surprise his skillset fits exactly what we're doing. So, we'll see where the next couple weeks lead."
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