said<\/a>. \u201cBut great players see Red if they have a big bat Yanked out of their lineup. I haven\u2019t Met a team that Dodges a five-tool player. To Phil the center field need is a Giant step towards the playoffs. North and south outfielders that fly with power, they\u2019re rare Birds. In the offseason, there\u2019s a lot of startup to organizations, and for that reason, there\u2019s a lot of Angel investors that are looking for very versatile outfielders. So other than that, Belli doesn\u2019t have much interest.\u201d<\/p>\nThe Yankees acquired Bellinger from the Chicago Cubs a year ago and he proved a natural fit behind Judge in the lineup. He hit .272 with 29 home runs and 98 RBI with a 125 wRC+. He proved himself in the outfield with his glove too, playing all three positions and finishing with a fielding run value (FRV) of +9. Bellinger can also play first base in an emergency.<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s keeping the Yankees from bringing him back? He\u2019s automatic protection for Aaron Judge in the lineup and a net positive in the field. Well, knowing Boras, he\u2019s probably drawing the process out like he always does. No stopping until he gets the best and highest offer for his client, even if spring training has already started.<\/p>\n
Now, to be fair, we\u2019re nowhere close to that level of urgency yet. It\u2019s still early January and Bellinger is probably just waiting for Kyle Tucker to sign what\u2019s looking more and more likely to be a short-term deal so he can have some extra leverage. After all, why commit to a five-year deal when he could potentially earn a higher annual value over three years?<\/p>\n
But even then, it\u2019s hard to see Cody Bellinger signing anywhere except back with the New York Yankees, even if he decides he wants a short-term deal. Heyman recently reported both of Bellinger\u2019s former teams, the Cubs and Dodgers had checked in with his camp, along with the Mets and Giants. Let\u2019s use the process of elimination.<\/p>\n
Bellinger could absolutely return to the Dodgers just because they have the money and can offer deferrals for days. The downside is that his most natural fit in LA is in center field, his weakest outfield position. Bellinger also noticeably declined with the Dodgers after winning his MVP trophy in 2019, batting just .203 over the next three years before rebounding in Chicago.<\/p>\n
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And speaking of the Cubs, they actually have an open spot for Bellinger in the outfield. He slots in as a perfect natural fit in right, except Chicago hasn\u2019t been particularly active this offseason. Their biggest move thus far is signing former Yankees prospect Tyler Austin to a one-year deal worth a shade over $1 million. For context, Austin is now 34 years old, hasn\u2019t played in MLB since 2019, and spent the last six years mashing home runs for the Yokohama Bay Stars.<\/p>\n
The Mets desperately need outfielders along with reliable pitching, but they wouldn\u2019t offer Pete Alonso more than a three-year deal. They\u2019re not signing Cody Bellinger, nor are the Giants. They\u2019re already stuck with eight more years of Rafael Devers.<\/p>\n
That leaves the Yankees. So, again, what does that mean for right now? Where are New York and Cody Bellinger at this stage of negotiations?<\/p>\n
If you ask me, Bellinger probably signs with the Yankees by the end of the week. The timing of this, even if he\u2019s waiting for Tucker to sign first, is all too similar to Derek Jeter\u2019s free agency after 2010. The Captain and Cashman couldn\u2019t come to terms, so the veteran GM famously told him to go find a better contract elsewhere. Jeter grumbled, but re-signed and retired a Yankee.<\/p>\n
This, dear readers, is where Cody Bellinger and the Yankees are at. If he had a better deal from another team on the table, he\u2019d have signed already. Instead, he\u2019s still looking for his new team even as New York waits with open arms.<\/p>\n
The lack of rumors and movement around his name should be a good sign. But until the ink is dry on a new Yankees contract, where Cody Bellinger ultimately signs is anyone\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n
Mr. Cashman, go and get your man.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brad Penner-Imagn Images This offseason has been relatively quiet for the New York Yankees, so much that the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2376],"tags":[5,1365,44,4,2046,1690,62,2548,2547,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-508226","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-yankees","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cody-bellinger","10":"tag-featured","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-mlb-free-agency","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-yankees","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkyankees","17":"tag-yankees"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115849420217043243","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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