MLB Rumors: Cody Bellinger truth, Brewers pitching decision, Anthony Rizzo prediction

The Los Angeles Dodgers officially won the World Series, which means that the moment that the 28 teams who did not participate in the World Series have been waiting for is finally here. It is the MLB offseason.

All eyes will be on Juan Soto, at least until he signs, but there are several intriguing players set to be available. Players like Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, and Teoscar Hernandez are free agents, and others like Garrett Crochet and Luis Robert Jr. figure to be available via trade. A lot of exciting movement will be taking place in the coming months.

FanSided's Robert Murray alongside fellow co-host Adam Weinrib gave some insight on some other free agents, or players who could've been free agents while diving into the latest MLB rumors on the latest episode of the Baseball Insiders podcast.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.

MLB Rumors: An NL Central reunion could be in store for Anthony Rizzo

Anthony Rizzo spent parts of ten seasons with the Chicago Cubs, making three All-Star appearances, winning four Gold Gloves, and, of course, winning a World Series during those years. He was traded at the 2021 trade deadline to the New York Yankees where he'd have some mixed results. One thing that became incredibly clear over the course of the 2024 campaign is that Rizzo is not close to the same player he once was.

That simple reality is the reason why the Yankees declined Rizzo's $17 million club option, electing instead to pay a $6 million buyout and allow Rizzo to test free agency. Murray does not believe Rizzo's Yankees tenure is 100 percent over even with New York's declining the option, but he does lay out an intriguing landing spot for the 35-year-old.

"I think a team like the Pittsburgh Pirates makes a lot of sense. That's just me speculating, I want to make that abundantly clear, but they like having those stopgap options at first base. They did it last year with Rowdy Tellez."

The Pittsburgh Pirates downgrading from Rowdy Tellez would be incredibly disappointing, but at this point, they'd be doing that if they elected to sign Rizzo to replace him. In addition to Rizzo's questionable durability, his OPS from this past season (.637) was nearly 60 points lower than that of Tellez (.691) even with Tellez's well-documented early-season struggles. Rizzo can still make contact and actually had a decent postseason considering the injury he was dealing with, but his lack of power (no home runs in his final 133 at-bats combining regular season and postseason) is jarring considering the positoin he plays, and his defense is declining as well.

Rizzo, at 35 years of age, is likely to improve much from the season he just had. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Pirates pursue a cheap stopgap as Murray suggests, and it'd be fun to see Rizzo back in the NL Central again, but if the Pirates are serious about winning in 2025, doing better than Rizzo at first base feels like a necessity. Rizzo would provide a solid clubhouse presence, but little on-field value at this point.

MLB Rumors: Brewers not expected to pick up their end of Frankie Montas mutual option

The Milwaukee Brewers made a couple of trade deadline deals to address a rotation in need of a boost, one of which saw them acquire Frankie Montas from the Cincinnati Reds. While he didn't pitch like the pitcher he once was with the Oakland Athletics, Montas was able to eat some innings for the Brewers down the stretch and was even their Game 2 starter in the Wild Card Series.

Even with Brandon Woodruff expected to return after missing the entire 2024 campaign due to injury, the Brewers could use some rotation help. With that in mind, the idea of bringing Montas back didn't feel so far-fetched. However, the Brewers are likely going to, at the very least, let the right-hander test free agency according to Murray.

"I fully expect Montas not having his mutual option picked up by the Crew, and I firmly expect him to have a strong market in free agency."

While the Brewers bringing Montas back for 2025 makes sense, they were never going to pick up their end of his $20 million mutual option. Montas provided the Brewers with some innings in his 11 regular season starts with the team, but still had a 4.55 ERA with Milwaukee. He had a 4.84 ERA in 30 starts and 150.2 innings overall. That, combined with the fact that he recorded just four outs in the entire 2023 season, makes him worth nowhere near $20 million even if it is just for one season.

The Brewers won't bring him back at the $20 million figure, but again, bringing him back might be in the cards. It'll just have to be cheaper. With Montas expected to have a 'strong market,' though, whether the Brewers will actually sign him remains to be seen.

MLB Rumors: Cody Bellinger was never opting out of his contract

Once the regular season ended, there was speculation that Cody Bellinger was going to opt out of his contract with the Chicago Cubs and become a free agent once again. That did not happen. On Saturday, Bellinger officially opted into his deal, and is going to earn $27.5 million with the Cubs in 2025.

While this move might've been seen as surprising to some, it was not surprising to Murray.

"As far as Bellinger goes, this was always the direction that this was headed in. I know there was some speculation online that he could end up declining his player option to go to free agency, but I don't think that was ever really a strong possibility. $27.5 million for a player with a 2.2 bWAR last year is really good for the player, and it ensures that he stays in a place that he's comfortable."

As Murray noted, this really shouldn't be seen as a surprise. One year after he received MVP votes, Bellinger had a down year for the Cubs, slashing .266/.325/.426 with 18 home runs and 78 RBI in 130 games. He was still a productive player, but nowhere near the star he was in 2023.

An opt-out from Bellinger might've still made sense even after his down year considering how weak the free agent market is in center field, but with what Murray outlined as a contract projection, it's easy to see why Bellinger chose to just take the $27.5 million.

"If he ended up declining it, I had some different estimates for his free agency at four years for $80 million - somewhere in that ballpark. I had one person expecting even lower than that so it was really kind of a no-brainer that he would end up picking up his option and returning to Chicago."

Four years of security would've been nice for Bellinger, but a $20 million AAV is a steep fall from $27.5. By opting in, Bellinger has another chance to have a big year and earn himself a massive deal in free agency. Even if he has another down year in 2025, he has another player option worth $25 million. Scott Boras had a rough 2023 offseason, but the Bellinger deal always looked better than he was given credit for.