ORLANDO, Fla. — One potential suitor for Cody Bellinger almost certainly came off the board on Tuesday.
But the outfielder’s agent divulged the competition that the Yankees are facing to retain Bellinger, even if his market may no longer include the Phillies after they agreed to a five-year, $150 million deal with Kyle Schwarber.
Scott Boras, speaking as the Schwarber news broke, indicated that Bellinger’s list of suitors is lengthy — including the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Giants, Reds and Angels — and the pursuit of the lefty-swinging outfielder may only heat up now that Schwarber is off the board.
“It’s not for me to judge, but great players see red if they have a big bat yanked out of their lineup,” Boras said during his annual state of his clients at the Winter Meetings. “I haven’t met a team that dodges a five-tool player. To fill the center field need is a giant step towards the playoffs. North and south, outfielders that fly with power, they’re rare birds. In the offseason, there’s a lot of start-up to organizations, and for that reason, there’s a lot of angel investors that are looking for very versatile outfielders.
Cody Bellinger is a top free agent. Robert Sabo for NY Post
“So other than that, Belli doesn’t have much interest.”
There was initially some thought that Bellinger would wait for Kyle Tucker to sign before agreeing to any deal, and while that still may or may not happen — there appear to be more teams in on Bellinger than Tucker — it also did not sound as if anything was imminent.
“I can never predict markets because when owners get involved, they can do things at a moment’s notice,” Boras said. “With these type of players, it’s happened before, I would expect it could happen again.”
Boras declined to say if Hal Steinbrenner had gotten involved in the Bellinger talks to date, but general manager Brian Cashman has been in regular contact with talks continuing.
Scott Boras represents Cody Bellinger. Getty Images
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While Steinbrenner said last month that getting his payroll under $300 million would be “ideal” — something that would be virtually impossible if they sign Bellinger, given that they are already projected to be at $283 million and he could net an average annual value somewhere around $30 million, perhaps for five or six years — Boras said he has not gotten any sense from his talks with the Yankees that they are trying to limit spending.
“I don’t think when Cash or [team president] Randy [Levine] call me, they talk about limiting payroll, no they don’t,” Boras said. “They talk about acquiring players. They’ve never made mention of that. I go back to what they did with [Juan] Soto last year. Hal, Randy and Cash did everything they could possibly do to pursue a great talent. So I have no reason that they would approach this market any differently.”
Bellinger opted out of the final year and $25 million left on his contract after a strong first season in pinstripes in which he provided protection hitting behind Aaron Judge and batted .272 with 29 home runs and a .813 OPS. The 30-year-old started 59 games in left field, 48 in right, 38 in center and three at first base, giving manager Aaron Boone important flexibility in how he could write out his lineups. He was also a quality base runner and had a high baseball IQ, offering the “five-tool” package that Boras has often touted this offseason.
Of course, that is also what makes him attractive to other teams. Will the Mets be more aggressive now that they lost Edwin Díaz (and no longer have Schwarber available as a fallback to Pete Alonso)? The Dodgers, Bellinger’s original team, just spent $69 million on Díaz, but money has not stopped them from doing anything in recent years. The Blue Jays landing Bellinger would be a double whammy in hurting the Yankees, putting him on a division rival.
The Yankees’ options if Bellinger signs elsewhere, meanwhile, are limited. They could go internally with Jasson Domínguez or Spencer Jones, but there is still plenty of unknown there, both offensively and defensively.
“Cody Bellinger would be a great fit for us,” Cashman said Sunday. “I think he’d be a great fit for anybody. I think he’s a very talented player that can play multiple positions at a high level. Hits lefties, hits righties, contact guy. I think our environment was a great one for him.”