Yankees add Cody Bellinger in trade with Cubs
Chicago Cubs leftfielder Cody Bellinger (24) in the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Denver. Credit: AP/David Zalubowski
The Yankees began the process of replacing Juan Soto’s offense by acquiring former NL MVP Cody Bellinger from the Cubs on Tuesday.
To get Bellinger and $5 million from Chicago, the Yankees only had to send 30-year-old righthander Cody Poteet to Wrigley Field.
The Cubs, who recently traded for Houston outfielder Kyle Tucker, wanted to shed most of Bellinger’s salary. The Yankees were happy to oblige to add a lefthanded hitter who could slot into the outfield or first base.
Bellinger, 29, has a $27.5 million salary for 2025 and has a $25 million player option for 2026 with a $5 million buyout. The Cubs and Yankees spent the days since last week’s Winter Meetings haggling over how much money Chicago would send back to the Yankees. They settled at $2.5 million in each of the next two years, according to a source.
The Yankees already had money to spend after Soto turned down their 16-year, $760-million offer to sign with the Mets for 15 years and $765 million.
Bellinger, the son of former Yankee Clay Bellinger, won the MVP award in 2019 for the Dodgers. He had a .305/.406/.629 slash line with 47 home runs and 115 RBIs. He has not come close to approaching those gaudy numbers since.
Bellinger signed a three-year, $80-million contract with the Cubs before the 2024 season, and decided not to opt out of the final two years of the deal. In 2024, Bellinger posted a .266/.325/.426 slash line with 18 home runs and 78 RBIs.
The Yankees like his lefty power potential and ability to play multiple positions. With Soto gone and Aaron Judge presumably moving back to rightfield, Bellinger could play center or left with Jasson Dominguez taking the other spot.
A report in USA Today on Tuesday said Bellinger has already been told he’ll play center for the Yankees.
Bellinger started 13 games at first for the Cubs last season. It’s more likely the Yankees will use him in the outfield simply because there are multiple free-agent first basemen still on the market.
According to USA Today, Pete Alonso is one of four free agents the Yankees are “engaged in talks with” for their first-base vacancy. The others are Paul Goldschmidt, Christian Walker and Carlos Santana.
Walker is considered the most likely option to replace Anthony Rizzo. But it would give the Yankees-Mets rivalry quite a jolt if Alonso came to the Bronx after Soto left for Queens.
While it still seems unlikely (and unthinkable to Mets fans, still giddy from the Soto signing), it is a possibility until the Yankees add a first baseman or until Alonso either returns to the Mets or signs somewhere else.
The Yankees are also looking for a third baseman, which would allow them to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to second. Houston free agent Alex Bregman is still out there, and the Cardinals are trying to trade veteran Nolan Arenado.
On the pitching front, the Yankees have signed lefthander Max Fried to an eight-year, $218-million contract and traded for Brewers closer Devin Williams.
Poteet appeared in five games (four starts) for the Yankees last season, going 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA.
After Soto left, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said: “We’re going to do our best to try and improve the team based on our evaluations, based on our capabilities, because the Steinbrenner family’s efforts are strong, typically, and we’ll hopefully run into some things that can benefit us that will make our fans excited as we move forward.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
