The New York Yankees are reportedly close to re-signing outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger, according to SNY’s Emmanuel Berbari during an appearance on Baseball Night in NY.
Bellinger was traded from the Chicago Cubs ahead of the 2025 season, coincidentally, to make room for Kyle Tucker, who had been acquired from the Houston Astros for third baseman Isaac Paredes, pitcher Hayden Wesneski, and third baseman Cam Smith.
Bellinger is, or perhaps was, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Plan B to giving Tucker a potential $400 million deal this offseason, according to USA Today’s Gabe Lacques.
“Bellinger, who will surely want a nine-figure deal that seemed inevitable a half-decade ago, will come for a fraction of the cost. And he’s probably a better fit: Bellinger can play all three outfield positions as well as first base, a crucial bit of optionality as Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman hit free agency after 2027 and 30-plus stars like Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani may need to shift roles,” Lacques wrote.
“Fewer outfielders are better defensively: Bellinger’s seven outs above average in 2025 put him even with the defensively elite Harrison Bader and just one behind Gold Glove winner Fernando Tatis Jr. If so inclined, the Dodgers could enjoy Bellinger’s enhanced production compared to what Conforto provided, and eat the offensive shortcomings of Andy Pages while keeping his 11 outs above average in center, creating a truly dominant defensive outfield.
“Yep, L.A. Belli v.2.0 would be a pretty nice fit.”
Obviously, that plan doesn’t look likely for LAD any longer. They may have to go with their Plan A and ink Tucker to an unfathomable contract to further ruin baseball.
On the bright side, from the Pinstripes’ perspective, the Yankees appear to have a quality signing on their hands, to potentially be announced soon. Any free agent the Dodgers are after these days should be considered such.
Los Angeles knows what he can do, hence wanting him back. Cashman may have outdueled Andrew Friedman for this one, though. Unless Friedman was feigning interest in a reunion just to drive the price up.
You can never be too anxious about the Dodgers.
