Cody Bellinger couldn’t have asked for a better start to his major league career.
Bellinger splashed onto the scene in 2017 with a 39-home run rookie campaign, giving the Dodgers two consecutive NL Rookie of the Year award winners. After a somewhat down season in 2018, Bellinger was fully unleashed at the plate with a 47 home run season in 2019. In a tight race for the NL MVP with the reigning winner in Christian Yelich, it was Bellinger that became the first Dodger to win the MVP since Clayton Kershaw in 2014.
It’s been six years since Bellinger was named as the NL MVP. He has since fallen into the depths of baseball Hell with injury plagued seasons in 2021 and 2022, ultimately leading the Dodgers to make the tough choice in non-tendering him. After a bounce-back 2023 campaign with the Chicago Cubs and a superb 2025 season with the New York Yankees, Bellinger is back on the open market.
The Dodgers are in the mix for the top free agent signing of the offseason in outfielder Kyle Tucker, but should the Dodgers fail to land the former Astros and Cubs star, they might pivot to a reunion with Bellinger, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN, as the team looks to address their outfield concerns.
“The Dodgers, who non-tendered Bellinger three years ago, have expressed interest as they peruse the outfield market.”
“The Dodgers are expected to pursue free agent right-hander Pete Fairbanks, who racked up 75 seasons over the past three seasons before the Tampa Bay Rays made a surprise decision to decline his 2026 option.”
The Tokyo Series between the Dodgers and Cubs back in March was a sight to behold for baseball fans around the world, and nothing was more marvelous than Shohei Ohtani cranking a home run in front of his native crowd.
Michael Schneider of Variety writes about a new upcoming movie about the series titled “Homecoming: The Tokyo Series,” which delves into the correlation between baseball itself and traditional Japanese customs and values. The film is set to hit theaters on Feb. 23 and 24.