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17 hours ago
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The New York Yankees have landed perhaps the most notable blockbuster trade addition of the offseason, but it comes with some baggage.
After agreeing to a trade with the Chicago Cubs that brought two-time Silver Slugger Award winner and former Most Valuable Player Award winner Cody Bellinger to the Bronx, the Yankees agreed to pay almost all of his $25 million salary for 2025. And Bellinger also has a significant player option for 2026.
By trading for him, the Yankees could be on the hook for that 2026 option as well. And Russell Steinberg of ClutchPoints has predicted that Bellinger will indeed opt for that 2026 return with the Yankees.
“The Yankees’ outfielder will exercise his option and stay with New York after 2025,” per Steinberg. “Bellinger also has a $25 million player option for 2026, his age 30 season, with a $5 million buyout. He makes too much sense in New York for him to opt out of that deal.”
It’s hard to say what version of Bellinger the Yankees might get in a 2026 return. He slashed .305/.406/.629 with 47 homers in his 2019 MVP season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, then slumped over the next few seasons before being cut by the Dodgers in 2022.
In 2023, he earned National League Comeback Player of the Year honors with the Cubs after surging back to a .307/.356/.525 slash line with 26 homers. Coming off of that campaign, he signed a three-year deal with the Cubs that includes his 2026 option.
But then he had another relatively down campaign this past season and has found himself looking for a return to MVP form with the Yankees.
There’s good reason to believe he will recapture some of his best production in the Bronx. Yankee Stadium has favorable dimensions that could improve his home run production, leading Steinberg to project that Bellinger “will hit more home runs than any season since his 2019 MVP campaign.”
“For those wondering how well he can take advantage of the short porch in the Bronx, Bellinger hits about half of his home runs to the pull side and nearly the rest to centerfield,” Steinberg added. “Yankee Stadium is 314 feet down the right field line, a reasonable distance, but hitters feast in the right-center area where the fence does not move as far back as it does in most other parks.”
The Yankees could renegotiate with Bellinger ahead of 2026, trade him or see him opt out to find another contract elsewhere. But even with a strong 2025 debut season in the Bronx, it seems most likely that the team can count on a $25 million return for their blockbuster trade prize in 2026.
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Peter Chawaga is a veteran journalist covering Major League Baseball for The Sporting News. His MLB reporting has included feature interviews with commissioner Rob Manfred and Hall of Fame slugger David Ortiz, salary analysis, player rankings and more. He has covered baseball for Forbes, Yardbarker, Pitcher List, Athlon and other outlets.
With over ten years of newsroom experience, he has previously covered finance, technology, arts, and culture for newspapers, magazines, and websites nationwide. He graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in English and journalism.
English (US)