Cubs rumors: Bellinger's wishlist, team's biggest trade bait, STL legend helping CHC, more

Cubs Rumors: Cody Bellinger wants to stay in a big market

The Cubs' offseason will mostly revolve around the Cody Bellinger sweepstakes. Scott Boras is baseball's most notorious agent in these situations, and he no doubt has a plan in place to extract maximum possible value on Bellinger's next deal. If the number climbs too high — Sharma and Mooney of The Athletic point to Xander Bogaerts' 11-year, $280 million deal with San Diego — the Cubs are expected to bow out.

Chicago is seldom a huge spender in free agency. Marcus Stroman's $21 million just came off the books, which does help on the flexibility front, but Bellinger's season was a tale of two halves. He was absolutely electric from July on, accumulating 75 RBIs in 81 games. For the season, he slashed .307/.356/.525 with 26 home runs and 97 RBIs. Those are superstar numbers, but it came on the heels of two truly dreadful campaigns with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Bellinger slashed .210/.265/.389 in 2022 and .165/.240/.302 in 2021. He's a former MVP with an undeniably high ceiling, but he's also uniquely volatile for a player whose next contract could creep up toward $300 million.

As for what Bellinger wants, he has his sights set on staying in a big market, per The Athletic. He has spent his entire career between Los Angeles and Chicago, which has natural perks. So, apologies to the Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals of the world, but Bellinger isn't considering such a move.

The New York Yankees and New York Mets feel like the real heavyweights in a potential Bellinger bidding war. We can't count out the Boston Red Sox either. Craig Breslow, the new Chief Baseball Officier for the Red Sox, was with the Cubs last season.

Chicago is expected to remain involved in Bellinger's free agent process. His future will ultimately come down to whether or not another team is willing to outbid the Cubs.