It got hairy there for a few days, but in the end Cody Bellinger's return to the New York Yankees was in fact inevitable. The outfielder finally took the offer on the table on Wednesday afternoon, agreeing to a five-year, $162.5 million deal that includes opt outs after both 2027 and 2028.
It might not be the megadeal Bellinger dreamed of, but it's a long-term contract for star money. The Yankees, meanwhile, bring back the one player who fit exactly what they needed, an excellent defender in left field who can spell Trent Grisham in center while hitting against both righties and lefties. While this made too much sense not to happen, though, that doesn't mean the fallout won't be messy. Here's what this move means, both for some of Bellinger's teammates as well as the league at large.
Who won the Cody Bellinger sweepstakes?
- These Yankees are as good as gone after Cody Bellinger re-signs
- Winners from the Cody Bellinger deal
- Losers from the Cody Bellinger deal
These Yankees are as good as gone after Cody Bellinger re-signs
OF Jasson Dominguez
Dominguez has in some ways fallen victim to a level of expectation he had no control over. For all the jokes that rival fan bases love to throw around, he was still the sixth-youngest position player to make an Opening Day roster last season, and he held his own at the plate — particularly against righties.
That said, it's getting harder and harder to envision a future for him in the Bronx now that Bellinger's back in the fold. His failure to develop yet in the field and against left-handed pitching make him an awkward fit for this roster, and New York would assuredly rather get something for him while he still holds some intrigue around the league than let him wither on the vine. Yankees fans also need to readjust their expectations as to what he'd fetch in a trade — no, he's not going to be a meaningful part of a Freddy Peralta package — but there are teams out there who would part with something of value for him.
OF Spencer Jones
It feels like the Yankees just don't have all that much faith in the Spencer Jones Experiment. If they believed that the top-line numbers in the Minors last year were real (.274/.362/.571 with 35 homers in 116 games) surely they'd be doing more to pave the way for playing time at the big-league level. And yet, Jones seems once again ticketed for Triple-A, suggesting that the front office has understandably looked at his worryingly high strikeout rate and his worryingly poor zone contact rate — neither of which point to a viable MLB hitter, no matter his power — and decided that they can't rely on him as an everyday player.
It's also clear that teams around the league concur with that assessment. Plenty would no doubt be happy to take a flier on Jones, but the idea that he was going to serve as the centerpiece for someone like Peralta or even Sandy Alcantara was always farfetched. Jones is still rawer as a player than his advanced age would suggest (he didn't commit full-time to hitting until 2022), but like Dominguez, this feels like a saga that ends with the Yankees cutting bait and moving on as best they can.
RHPs Luis Gil or Adam Warren
If the Yankees had somehow missed out on Bellinger, the priority would've been somehow filling the gaping hole in left field (or at least throwing more bodies at it). Now, though, Cashman can move on to his next priority: upgrading the starting rotation. Beyond Bellinger, that's been the place New York has most consistently sniffed around this winter, tied to everyone from Peralta to Edward Cabrera to MacKenzie Gore, as they look to add a bit more certainty and frontline talent to a group long on both potential and injury risk.
And if they do manage to swing a trade for a proven MLB arm, that will likely come at the expense of someone like Gil or Warren. New York would no doubt prefer to offer up the former, given the flashes Warren showed as a rookie last year and Gil's inconsistent command and inability to miss bats. But those are the same things that give Warren much more trade value. Either way, odds are good one of them will be on the outs before spring training.
Winners from the Cody Bellinger deal
Cody Bellinger
No, Bellinger didn't get the seven-year deal he was reportedly seeking. (More on that in a bit.) But he still gets more than $30 million a year, and he does so with both some degree of long-term security and the ability to hit the market again after 2027 if he puts up two more excellent seasons.
That's a pretty good deal, even if it won't carry him through the rest of his career like he and Scott Boras probably hoped. Five years is nothing to sneeze at, and he gets to stay on a contending roster in a ballpark that's tailor-made for his specific skill set.
Hal Steinbrenner
Steinbrenner gets to have his cake and eat it too. On the one hand, he can point to the fact that he's once again crossed the $300 million mark in total payroll and tell Yankees fans that he's committed to winning no matter the cost. On the other, he avoided a bidding war with the Dodgers and Mets that would've no doubt resulted in yet more egg on his face.
Oh, and ceding Tucker to the Dodgers also gives him and the rest of his owner buddies even more ammunition with which to demand a salary cap after the current CBA expires next winter. In reality, Steinbrenner just wanted to do the bare minimum that would afford him plausibile deniability. Mission accomplished, I guess, until the Yankees once again flame out in October.
The rest of the AL East
It hasn't quite been a banner offseason for this division. The Toronto Blue Jays overhauled their pitching staff but swung and missed on both Tucker and Bo Bichette. The Boston Red Sox added two quality starters in Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray, but also took on some regression risk in the process — not to mention the fact that losing Alex Bregman to the Cubs throws this lineup into question. And the Baltimore Orioles made a big splash by signing Pete Alonso but still have rotation questions to answer.
And yet, all three of those teams are feeling a bit better by default, because the Yankees appear committed to simply running back last year's team but a year older and already more injured. New York could still well win this division in 2026, but it won't be because they took the biggest swings.
Scott Boras
Bellinger was an awfully difficult free agency to parse, a 30-year-old player with a checked recent track record and whose game wasn't a fit for plenty of teams and ballparks. But Boras bided his time, knew that the Yankees couldn't afford to let his client walk and came away with a deal that checks just about every box Bellinger could've reasonably expected. $162.5 million is nothing to sneeze at, and the two player opt-outs give his client even more control over his future.
Losers from the Cody Bellinger deal
Scott Boras
Of course, we'd also be remiss if we didn't mention that Boras lost his staring contest with Brian Cashman. There was a lot of saber-rattling in recent days trying to get Cashman to up his long-standing offer to six or even seven years, using the looming threat of the Mets or a dreaded mystery team to try and spook New York into submission. In the end, though, Cashman understood that Bellinger needed the Yankees as much as the Yankees needed him, and now both parties get to save face.
Brian Cashman
Having said all that, though, it's still worth wondering how the Yankees wound up in this position to begin with. Bellinger is a good player who fits what New York's wonky roster needs, but 1) the wonkiness of that roster is also on Cashman and 2) he's simply not the caliber of player that Tucker is. Maybe this will all work out, Bellinger will play at an All-Star level and the Yankees will make it back to the World Series. More likely, though, Bellinger is good rather than great, New York once again falls short and Tucker gets added to the increasingly long list of big-name free agents (Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Corey Seager, Trea Turner) that Cashman had bafflingly little interest in.
This is a fine outcome given the situation New York was in, but they were only in that situation — having capped the ceiling of their offseason, with only one option remaining on the board — because Cashman didn't bother to do anything to the contrary.
Lockout worries
Social media was abuzz at the revelation that Bellinger's contract included a stipulation that, if the 2027 season were to get wiped out by labor strife, his opt outs would shift to seasons three and four of his contract. But don't get fooled: That language is just Boras covering his bases, and Belllinger's deal is yet more evidence that no one is really worried about missing games next year.
Really, if they were, why would top free agents like Tucker and Bichette opt for short-term deals? Why would Bellinger be so anxious to have the option to hit the market again as soon as possible? The owners are driving a hard line right now when it comes to a cap, but they know the risks that come with missing a season, especially with all of MLB's broadcast rights deals expiring at the end of 2028. A lockout would be a huge, unnecessary step backwards when there's plenty of middle ground to be found.
Aaron Judge
It's easy to take Judge for granted, but as he approaches his 34th birthday in April, it's fair to wonder just how much of his prime he has left. And if the decline does come sooner rather than later, the Yankees should be kicking themselves for not acting with more urgency.
To be sure, Judge deserves his share of the blame for his past postseason struggles. But the talent around him simply isn't good enough, and Steinbrenner and Cashman have repeatedly declined opportunities to get it there. If the Judge era ends without a ring, fans will be right to look back on the decisions not to pursue guys like Tucker as a big reason why. He deserves more than running it bakc.