In the months leading up to last week’s non-tender deadline, Cody Bellinger’s status with the Dodgers stood out as perhaps the most fascinating decision among the group, serving as the basis for plenty of spirited debate about whether the former NL MVP would be traded, non-tendered or brought back for one more chance to right the ship in Los Angeles. The Dodgers ultimately made the decision to cut Bellinger loose, making him one of the most intriguing boom-or-bust options on this year’s market — particularly given the scarcity of center fielders.
Agent Scott Boras tells Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that he’s already received multi-year offers for Bellinger — presumably from teams hoping for the chance to secure a player with star potential at what would be a bargain annual value if they’re successfully able to rehabilitate him. However, pointing to Bellinger’s age (27), Boras suggested that he and Bellinger “most likely… don’t want a multi-year [contract].” MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that the Blue Jays are among the teams to have expressed early interest in Bellinger, adding that they held some trade discussions surrounding Bellinger prior to his non-tender.
There’s good sense to pursuing only contracts that would allow Bellinger to return to the market a year from now. He won’t turn 28 years old until around the 2023 All-Star break, making him the youngest free agent of note this offseason. And although Bellinger has managed just a .193/.256/.355 slash with a 27.1% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate since Opening Day 2021 — due in no small part to a series of shoulder injuries that culminated in surgery — he’s also a former NL Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player. From 2017-20, he appeared in 506 games and tallied 2083 plate appearances while batting .273/.364/.547 with 123 home runs, a 21.5% strikeout rate and a 12.4% walk rate.
Even amid his recent offensive freefall, Bellinger has remained at least an average center fielder by virtue of any defensive metric, with Statcast offering particularly bullish reviews of his glovework. Statcast pegs Bellinger at eight Outs Above Average over the past two seasons and placed him in the 63rd percentile or better in arm strength, outfielder jump and sprint speed in both 2021 and 2022. Bellinger swiped 14 bags in 17 tries this past season and is 62-for-76 (81.5%) in his big league career.
Boras represents a pair of former All-Star rebound hopefuls under the age of 30 — Bellinger and Michael Conforto — but he’s publicly declared different contractual targets for the pair of outfielders. With regard to Conforto, Boras has spoken about the goal and purported likelihood that he’ll sign a two-year deal with the opportunity to opt out of the contract after one season — similar in concept (although perhaps not in magnitude) to the one fellow client Carlos Rodon inked with the Giants last winter.
That the ostensible preference or goal for Bellinger is to ink a straight one-year deal doesn’t necessarily indicate that no team is willing to put forth a multi-year deal and an opt-out, but it’s nevertheless a notable discrepancy for a pair of rebound candidates with All-Star ceilings. A straight one-year deal would quite likely be more appealing for teams, as any two-year pact with an opt-out carries considerably more downside for the signing club. (The second year on such contracts is typically only in play if the player gets hurt or performs poorly.)
A straight one-year deal for Bellinger gives him the best path to max out his current earning power, relatively limited as it may be, though it also creates the possibility that even if things break right for him, he’ll be saddled with a qualifying offer a year from now. If Bellinger rebounds strongly enough, that’s not likely to be a major detriment to his market as a 28-year-old, but it’s surely something that’s in the back of his mind as he weighs interest. While it’s doubtful he’d necessarily prioritize signing with a club that feels like a playoff long shot, Bellinger might also be more open to doing so, knowing that if he plays well and emerges as a trade candidate, a midseason move could help him dodge that QO entirely. Of course, a lot needs to go right for him to even be in that position.
A potential fit with the Blue Jays is easy enough to see — particularly after the team traded Teoscar Hernandez to the Mariners. Signing Bellinger would allow the Jays to slide George Springer from center field to right field while simultaneously adding a left-handed bat to help balance out an extremely right-handed lineup. The 2021-22 version of Bellinger is a major step down from Hernandez offensively, but the Jays would be a better defensive club with this alignment, and the obvious hope would be that a change of scenery would help bring Bellinger’s offense back up closer to its prior heights — even if a full rebound is probably too optimistic.
I mean, would anyone willingly give him a multi-year contract?
One year with a club option maybe, but more than one guaranteed year? No thanks.
Only if he was getting paid at fourth outfielder rates.
2018 0.260 avg and 25 HRs
2022 0.210 avg and 19 HRs, slightly fewer at-bats
Rookie season and 2019 juiced ball not coming back, but if Cody can pair great defense with 2018 stats, then he would be back to having starter numbers
I’m a Dodgers fan. He’s a long, long ways away from .260. Up until the last couple weeks he was flirting with the Mendoza line.
Hitter friendly parks don’t help hitters who either swing and miss or roll the ball harmlessly to second.
“One year with a club option maybe”
Read the article first. He’s not looking for a two year deal. To the player, a one year contract with an option, is the same as a two-year deal— But worse. If he plays good (in 2023), he’s stuck and can’t hit the FA market. If he’s bad, he has no guaranteed contract. Thats the exact opposite of the article’s main point.
Read the OP first. marrtho asked if anyone would willingly give him a multi-year contract.
Sure. Making up numbers, instead of a one year $10MM with incentives, some team might offer a two year $12MM. It really comes down to the dollar amounts.
Caveat Emptor!
Toronto is interested because his numbers look better when converted to metric.
Hey MLBTR! We need a rimshot button or emoji for comments like that one. Nice one Stymeed
1 year is exactly what the Cubs are looking for but maybe they’d go 2 with a mutual option I would think.
Bellinger or JT will end up on Chicago’s North side. Hitter friendly park. Probably sign another stop gap veteran for the line up too.
The Yankees should have interest in Bellinger also, regardless of my situation.
Do you really want two offensive enigmas in Donaldson and Bellinger in the lineup everyday? I could think of a better way to spend to $35MM+ on one roster spot.
Hmm, let’s think about this. A low-average, LH’d power hitter who plays good defense. That sounds like…Joey Gallo, part 2. Pass, pass, pass!
It’ll probably happen. Cashman likes former MVPs and aging stars (not that Bellinger is aging but still). That’s why they make it to the postseason but can’t find the finish line.
Some teams didn’t even know the race started.
It’s for one year, I don’t think it would be a bad move. Not sure why some fans compare a potential acquisition to another different failed player, it’s strange. Why not compare him
to Carpenter instead of Gallo??
What, to play Bellinger in LF? The Yanks already have Bader.
Maybe right lol
Bloom would rather role the dice on JBR than bring this guy in
It’s the same thing. Players who were once good 4-5 years ago.
Jbj was never as good as belli, don’t get it twisted.
I don’t think he’s saying JBJ was as good as Belli. Just that their strongest years won’t likely be reached. I’m assuming they just meant that both strongly declined
The difference is upside, that’s what I’m saying.
At this point I don’t think either are on Bloom’s radar
Boras can talk up anything
I dont get why his offence just went away.. any insight here?
He wrecked his shoulder.
He was hitting terribly for over a year before he hurt his shoulder. And it’s been over 2 years since he hurt his shoulder. He’s recovered. His issues are not nearly that simple.
I wouldn’t really call an OPS+ of 112 “hitting terribly.”
I have no idea what timeline you are referring to…Do you watch the Dodgers? And have you been watching Bellinger for 6 years? You seem more of a stat geek type. Stat geeks don’t know what they are watching on the field. Let’s stick to what we know.
His 2020 was down from his previous MVP-tier heights but still a firmly above average offensive season.
Then he injured his shoulder in the 2020 NLCS, underwent offseason surgery on it, and has been a skinny stoner version of Chris Davis ever since.
It seems reasonable to conclude that the two things are related, even if there may be other factors further exacerbating it.
some players never fully recover from injuries that effected their swing
Bellinger’s bat started heading south the 2nd half of his MVP year. Look it up for yourself. The shoulder definitely didnt help matters, but it was clear long before the injury that the league figured out more than one way to nullify his bat. The hard part to watch was seeing Bellinger stubbornly stick to the same failed approach year after miserable year.
The 1st time he dislocated his shoulder was in 2019, his MVP year.
No, no he wasn’t. His second half of 2019 he had an OPS north of .900, and he finished 2020 rather strong as well (after a rough start to the shortened season).
And saying he “wrecked” his shoulder is taking it too far. Bellinger himself said he has always had shoulder issues and that his shoulder pops out of it’s socket all the time.
Trim I didn’t he hurt it during the WS?
He dislocated it celebrating the NLCS-winning HR he hit in Game 7.
You are exactly right, He dislocated his shoulder the first time in 2019. Then again in 2020 when he was celebrating that HR in the WS.
After that dislocation he had to have surgery on that shoulder in November 2020 and his offense has never seemed to recover. Even his defense, which is still good, is not as good.
All these Dodger “fans” out there that don’t seem to read the LA Times or the Athletic that have already spelled out the timeline and reasons for his decline.
They just say things like “have you ever watched the Dodgers?”, as if that would help you know when and how he injured his shoulder.
Bum shoulder, long swing, pitchers no longer throw fastballs down the middle.
He was the largest recipient of the electronic sign stealing era. Really easy to see.
Ha-ha. Right.
Remember when he had the long hair going on for a while BlueSkies? Buzzer must have been hiding in there!
With all the accusations that he’s always buzzed, who knows!
good one blue
It’s one thing that his contact rates and quality of contact went down, but I’m curious how his plate discipline went right out the window. That should be a fairly stable skill shouldn’t it?
If your swing slows down, you need to start earlier to catch up. It gives you less time to recognize the pitch
If you are constantly having to cheat with your hands and body to get your bat head to a spot and the ball isn’t there, then your strike zone discipline goes out the door.
Often times if you’re pitched differently and start to struggle to maintain contact, they tend to go after what they normally wouldn’t have. It’s likely out of desperation, even when common sense should be that they still wait out a good pitch or take a walk. But I think then they’re pitched different and begin to struggle, they try desperately to adjust, change their approach, often for the bad, and at times don’t tend to go back to old form. Like the one person said, he’s not seeing fastballs across the plate now. So now he’s trying and failing to expand his zone.
swing is broken. mainly he adjusted after his broken leg and doesn’t generate as much Power and drive from his legs
any team signing him should identify this and work with him on it. it may be a confidence thing after the injury (not putting as much weight on the leg).
Hamstring injuries rarely affect a player’s swing. They may get thrown out a few more times, but that is not something that causes a complete cratering in BA.
Front shoulder injuries like the dislocations Belli suffered do have an effect on strength and because of that on bat speed. Slower bat speed means that the batter is late to pitches he used to crush and he has to commit quicker to pitches giving him less time to see the pitch. That creates less solid contact and pitches missed completely that he used to hit. All things that are evident in his stats.
sure except he had a hairline fracture in his leg. the hammy came later in the season
A hairline fracture in the leg doesn’t slow down bat speed.
There was an article I read that went more in depth about his struggles and it wasn’t his shoulder injury but instead his ankle/leg injury. Before the injury his lower and upper half we in sync with one another. After he came back swinging a little earlier than he should have even though the doctors said it was okay, his swing became disjointed and it has never recovered. His upper and lower half don’t work in tandem the way they did before.
Doesn’t explain his lack of plate discipline. Bodies evolve differently. It could well be that his fast twitch ability just declined very young. As a result he’s having to get started too early and therefore his timing is way off. Pitchers pick up on that and just change speeds constantly. That kind of scenario fits the profile of a guy who still hits HR’s (because he guesses right) but can’t do anything else.
Its not a change in plate discipline. Its a timing issue.
The lack of strength in his front shoulder due to the dislocations is slowing hus bat speed considerably.
Slower bat speed means his bat head is not there when it would have been before. He is not making contact or making poor contact on pitches he previously would have squared up.
Been that way since he first dislocated his shoulder in mid 2019. It got even worse after the 2nd time in the 2020 WS.
@Jeremy135; yes, mysterious. Every player goes through slumps and slumps brought on by injury. When it extends in to years like what happened to a Chris Davis or looks like Bellinger too, is it then more about a person’s mental make up/change and less about the physical side? IE. the process of thinking gets so putrid/dark, it messes with your confidence … and can become terminal.
YB: “this game is 90% mental, the other half physical”[sic]
Mental make up would not effect bat speed. Belli’s bat speed is down 3 mph.
A hairline fracture in your leg could affect your bat speed. Lack of confidence could affect your bat speed. These guys aren’t robots
Actually, mental make up can effect physical performance. Struggling with self esteem issues especially over an extended period of time could definitely slow that bat speed down.
Said this same exact thing. 1 year deal the Jays should sign him for .. You’d get better defensively, and after the season comes to an end many guys come off the payroll. And they could truly regroup because of it and see where they are. If they were to sign Bellinger to a 1 year deal between him Ryu, Chapman, Gurriel, that would be 50 plus mill off the payroll next year if those guys were to leave.
You dont want Chapman leaving, he’s most certainly worth paying the market rate, 5 or 6 years of his glove alone would be worth it.
Maybe he declines that last year, but he’d still probably be in the top half still defensively
His bat is another story, I think he’s going to be a mediocre hitter with pop who will probably bat 6th or 7th but 250 with 25 or more HR is A-OK as long as his glove stays where it is
Reminds me alot of John McDonald with his glove work and ability to make tough plays look routine
He really came on in the second half. Was hitting a bunch of homers. Definitely remember John McDonald was a great defensive SS. Can see where you compare the two.. Yeah, Chapman is a valuable player for sure.
Hopefully the Orioles stay far away from Bellinger. I’d much rather give those ABs to young guys like Stowers, Vavra, and eventually Cowser.
If I were him personally, I’d likely stay away from AL East, NL East and NL West anyways and try a division like one of the centrals where he’d possibly be able to face less strong pitching foes and possibly a hitter friendly ballpark. Might it be his ideal destination, but somewhere like Cincinnati where he’d get traded if putting up good enough numbers to a contender as the article states to avoid the QO might not be a bad choice for him. Even though the schedules are being “balanced”, I don’t think seeing more of the NL central pitching in a place like great American ballpark would hurt his chances for a mid season trade.
That would probably be his preference but I think he will end up with whoever offers the best combination of money and playing time.
He will end up where Boras and the players union tell him to.
Maybe Boras just doesn’t want to personally look bad when Bellinger takes a one year deal with low dollars. Clearly Bellinger has value as a platoon or fourth outfielder with great defense and some speed on base paths. But no team was going to offer Bellinger more than two guaranteed years anyway and most teams were probably thinking either one year or one year plus club option.
I think he’ll get more than the pay of a fourth outfielder. He’ll likely be an every day or near every day outfielder just because of his defense unless the team winds up giving up on his bat coming back. But as is oft suggested, I lean to wreaths him getting a one year deal for 10 mil plus incentives. Good chance he doesn’t reach most incentives unless they start at a lower an total. But I see his contract likely having incentives on it. Maybe one for AB’s or one for an all star selection. I doubt he’d take one for MVP finish because I’m sure even he doesnt necessarily expect to rebound so much right away that he becomes an mvp candidate. But I still see a 10 mil guarantee
Can we take a poll. I would be interested to find out what other people would risk for Bellinger for their team. Assuming just salary, forget incentives for now, what would you give him. I’m thinking it would be 12 Mil. as that is close to what his War would be worth for last year and also a bidding war as a free agent.
I’m guessing in the 10-12 million range would be accurate. And for a one year deal, isn’t going to hurt really any team. I also don’t think it’d be hard to flip him at the deadline at that rate, even if he were struggling, for another team to try to fix him. At the remainder of a 10-12 mil contract I doubt to many teams are going to sweat that add on unless they’re really penny pinching it. So a smaller market team might not. But a big market team looking for of depth could easily pull that trade.
Belliger was one of the worst hitters in baseball last year. He velocities and launch angles were terrible and overall he lost his strength. This could be from a bad shoulder or something else changed. All that said a 1 year at 7 million should be a risk Phillies are willing to take to correct their CF issues. Marsh is okay, but nothing spectacular.
heck no
He’s a Mike Saunders redoux…
No thanks on that gamble
Marsh is better defensively, even offensively last season, is younger, and has a great beard
Watch somebody way over pay him think he can bounce back after 2 bad years. One thing I hate about baseball is GM throwing money at bad players then raise ticket prices to pay for bad decisions.
I mean, if LAD can’t fix ’em…they’re the great rehab clinic of MLB.
Not really…
baseballprospectus.com/news/article/72886/veteran-…
The guy is trying to claim it doesn’t have to do with ticket prices but it does.
Yet you have no evidence that it does. MLB revenue surpassed $12 billion in 2022. Not because of attendance or any gate related revenue.
The increase in revenue was because of TV. Local, national and streaming. The new national TV deals give each team $70 million per season. Then there are local deals. According to Forbes, no team made less than $30 million in 2022 and that team will see a 25% increase in 2023. 55 million people subscribe to MLB.tv worldwide. After expenses, that is about $19.9 million going to each team annually. No team had less than about $120 million in TV revenue in 2022.
Did you know that MLB owns the NHL Network? And the company,MLB Advanced Media, that does all the NHL streaming and data? MLBAM also provides the infrastructure for other streaming services you might subscribe to like WWE Network, ESPN3, HBO, PGA Tour Live and many others. MLBAM brings in over $300 million in revenue a year which after expenses is split by the MLB team owners.
@ pads fan. Don’t forget to drop the mic
I remember when the NHL asked the people at the MLB Network to help them their high light show. The graphics are identical. Except the NHL uses 2 host. And MLB uses hot women.
And thus, why MLB.tv subscribers won’t see any changes in the dreaded blackout restrictions that will only get worse with each year and their ability to hoe out exclusive strreaming days. I’ll never forget watching a DET game on Peacock a few weeks in without any broadcasters (thinking they missed their flight or overslept) — and they announced they were “trying something new” on a Sunday 11:30am telecast. To think how much NBC-Universal spent on that streaming deal to know they wouldn’t pay for some talking heads is hilarious. Why couldn’t Fox do that years ago with Joe Buck, I dunno.
I don’t foresee him getting an overpay. Likely just several one years around 10 mil, incentives and choice of destination. If the multi year offers he’s getting are ones him and Boras aren’t considering, those are likely ones in the 2-3 range that are offering him slightly above present value, which is low. I’m pretty sure if they even had a 3 year deal at 15/yr plus incentives, they’d of taken that. But a one year for him is most likely because he has a lot of value he can get back by having a decent enough comeback. If he even hit .230-.240 with a decent power showing, he’d be able to get a much better deal next offseason.
Conforto is a different story because even though he’s coming off a lost season from injury, he has a recent enough successful season to where he just needs to show he’s healthy. Because if he can even show that, he’ll return to the free agent market as well next year. And if not, it’ll be like the article says where that risk of them being hurt/not performing comes into play. Because if he doesn’t perform well enough or stay healthy enough, he’ll take that option.
I appreciate your pessimistic approach but you don’t think any team should offer him a contract? That’s ridiculous, it’s for one year for someone possibly seriously undervalued. It’s not a bad risk.
It makes no sense for the Jays unless he is the 4th OF. The traded their 129 WRC+ OF (132 in 2021) and will replace him with a better defending 83 WRC+ OF (47 in 2021). The Jays are in no spot to gamble on upside anymore, they keep swinging and missing on those upside deals (Kikuchi) and that eats up their payroll.
On a one year deal, this wouldn’t hurt them. Unless they’re on a super tight budget, I’m pretty sure they can afford the risk. I mean he’d be right off the books next year, maybe even sooner if they just flipped him somewhere at the deadline to another person trying the change of scenery approach.
At this point anything will be a bounce back or come back year for him with how terrible he’s been recently.
Why would Boras want Bellinger to sign for one year opposed to multiple years?
Because he’s not getting a high aav on a multi year deal and there is at least hope that he will bounce back and then be able to sign a bigger deal.
Do you mean, why would the player prefer it? Because he’ll get a chance to rebuild value after years of playing hurt, and hit free agency again before age 30. Pretty easy stuff to figure, actually.
If he rebounds and is a productive player, someone will offer him a nine-figure contract next year.
I would view Bellinger as a fall back option for the J’s, but I would rather spend money on Brandon Nimmo or focus on a Gabriel Moreno/Brian Reynolds package.
If you get Belli, Nimmo isn’t off the table, it’s just not a requirement to really overpay him at that point.
Reynolds is an amazing idea, but I don’t think they want Moreno as they have a top C prospect already
Would probably have to part with Tieddeman or Orelvis Martinez plus more
One year $5 mil with performance incentives that could bring it to the QO and a reasonable player option for a second year seems fair to me.
No way him and Boras take 5 mil plus have an option on it. He’s going to get 10 or at least much closer to it before incentives guaranteed.
Not one single beat writer seems to think that Belli will get that much. Ardaya said single digits with player options. Hernandez and Harris both thought around $8 with a player option.
I think they are right. A single digit make good deal.
I’d be interested in seeing a MLBTR article on possible comps for the player Boras thinks Bellinger to be. I don’t recall too many players going for two years from All Star/MVP level down into the pits of near-unplayable, and then back to star.. Anyone else remember anyone like that?
Back to Star? Very few. But I don’t think they’re 100% looking for him to get back to Star earning power. The one year deal is likely to get him from a 10/per year offer for 2-3 years to a 12-15 over 3-4 years. If he had a HUGE rebound year, I’m sure they’d love that and like getting more than 15 per year over a few years, but I’m pretty sure all they’re hoping for is a strong enough year to make the multi year offers stronger than they currently are. The multi year offers he’s getting right now are likely ones he could make the same amount going year to year on gamble contracts.
Bellinger’s approach at the plate is fundamentally unsound – he’s been figured out. Blue Jays should look elsewhere.
He’s coming to TO for the weed. Told ya , Drake already hooking up a neck
Lets be honest, Belli is all about the cheeba. He willl be sparking it up in Colorado next season. Mark it down.
Bet we get better stank up here bro
Reminds me of when British Columbia native (1st rounder I think)Adam Loewen ( great athlete) made his MLB debut , starting for the Orioles , in Seattle. Just down the road from hometown.
Being his debut , of course he had provided many friends and families in the stands with tickets.
One section he had a bunch of buddies in the stands. Eight of them. They were all shirtless , had big red letters painted on their torsos. …. B E S T B C B U D …!
Classic lol
I’m really curious about what kind of framework the Jays discussed pre tender deadline. His arb projection was a lot. There’d have to be salary offset or the Jays trying to get some more talent attached. But I can’t see any incentive for the Dodgers in such frameworks since they didn’t have any financial obligation. Kikuchi would be my best guess but again, they could just take the money added to the budget from the non-tender and sign a free agent upside project arm.
While I’m also curious, it likely was either an extreme case of a lotto ticket, or one of which they offered a bad contract in exchange. But since the dodgers didn’t even have to tender bellinger, why take on a bad contract that they had to pay? Because whatever the offer was, the dodgers essentially chose to get nothing in return for him walking over whatever was offered. So it definitely wasn’t going to be anything of note except maybe a bad contract.
Jackie Bradley Jr in center for the Jays in 2023… He even put up decent batting numbers with the Jays… probably 5 million would do it… Never been a huge JBJ fan but looking better now that he is out of Beantown.
aim higher my dude….well actually if you are a Tigers fan I guess it makes sense to hope the Jays aim low.
I’m just not sure how he sees his time in 2022 with the jays as better than in Boston. I mean, on most accounts his numbers all dropped.
If Boras’s lips are moving, I am pretty sure he’s lying
This might be fantasy baseball but hear me out. Belli is an AZ kid and plays pretty well at Chase field. The dbacks trade 1 or even 2 of their stud OF prospects and improve their horrid bullpen and maybe grab a SS or SP with the value they get from their prized prospects. Cody stays home gets confidence in playing in a hitter-ish friendly ballpark. The dbacks stick it to the dodgers (if) when he demolishes them with a comeback season. Then they can focus their outfield prospects into some high quality players in positions of need. Hell throw him back at first base and see what c-walk gets you on the open market.
Roast away boys and gals.
Chad
My problem is that Snakes should keep Carroll, keep Varsho and Druw Jones is maybe three years out. This leaves McCarthy, Thomas and Lewis for one outfield spot and a DH.
I prefer to trade McCarthy or Thomas to the Marlins for Trevor Rogers or Braxton Garrett. And not acquire Belli.
Christian Walker hit really well last year, I just don’t think you can trade him for a #2 starting pitcher. Belli does not hit well enough to play 1B it is CF, RF or nothing for him.
Seems to me that the Red’s would be the perfect fit for a Bellinger bounce back. The Reds have an obvious outfield need, lower than normal payroll, and a need for another left-handed bat. The short right field in GABP, small center field dimensions to boost his dWAR and ORS, and the attainable chance to be the Reds only position player representative on the All-Star team next year. Castellanos turned his deal in Cincinnati, with an opt-out, into a huge deal with the Phillies. Seems to make to much sense.
Without even thinking of Castellanos, I was also thinking the same thing about Cincy being an ideal destination for him, especially on a one year deal. Hitters ballpark, facing the tougher pitching staffs less, I’d think would definitely be a plus for him. Even if they’re not in contact, there’s always ways to get a team to take a one year flier with potential to gain something in trade at the deadline. For a team hoping to get near contention again soon, any low risk deal that could net them a possible prospect isn’t a bad deal.
If I’m the Cubs, I’m offering a 1 year 10 million plus incentives and a 1 year 10 million player option.
Look, you put him playing in Wrigley, Milwaukee, great America those 19 home runs are 25 easy. Add a few more base hits along the way along with plus defense in a smaller center field and he’s easily going to give you positive value on that return.
Doesn’t sound like they even want the player option though. Unless it came with like a 3 million buyout or something to make the guaranteed money 13. Sounds like they’re purely counting on a one year deal to regain some lost value and betting on being able to make the same again next year if it doesn’t work out this year.
So he wouldn’t want an option that is 100% beneficial to him? Weird…. I’d fire my agent if that was the case…
Maybe you don’t understand what “player option” means…
I know exactly what player option means. But, as the article says, Boras has indicated that they want a straight up one year deal. Meaning, either Boras told him to take that approach, or he told Boras that’s the approach he wants. The intent seems to be to max out a one year deal with full intent on going back to the market. That’s obviously them also telling teams not to offer a low first year, with a high option second year. They’re clearly indicating they want the best offer for this season, not a safety net offer. I agree, player options are a great way to add money. But teams usually prefer to make them be a scenario where the first year is lower, and the option year is same or higher. They’re clearly just wanting to make one big gamble on this year and this year only.
But I agree that the NL central should be one of the top places he looks. Just likelier that he should go to the reds.
The Reds? I bet 5 bucks that Judge would end end up with the Somalian Pirates rather than the Pittsburgh Pirates. I’ll double down on that and bet 10 bucks that Bellinger ends up in Putin’s Red Army before he signs with the Cincinnati Reds.
Besides, Boras deleted the Reds whole operation from his contact list. Too cheap for him.
I didn’t say he will sign with the reds. I said he SHOULD sign with the reds. Again, because it’s a hitter friendly ballpark, in a softer division, that’ll give him plenty of opportunity to at least make people assume he regained some form. I expect he’ll likely sign with the blue jays, giants, or whoever gives him the most guaranteed money. I just don’t think that’s what he should do if he plans to go back into the market again next year, hoping to have re established any value.
He doesn’t have a choice. If he struggles in 2023. He’s going to be signing minor league contracts from there on out with hopes of making a big league club.
If he puts up the exact same line as he did last year in 2023, he’d be looking at around 10 million again.
Sense disappears when you have Cinci outbidding all others for a FA with dozens of interested teams. With their budget, they can’t take the risk.
I’m not by any means saying Cincinnati should outbid anybody. I’m saying they’d be wise to put out some kind of offer, and that he’d be wise to accept if he wants to re-establish some value. Because looking solely for a one year contract, that’s clearly their goal. But with that being the goal, it’d be smarter to go to a low pressure team in a hitter friendly park, that way he can show some kind of offense, and not just be a defensive option. I don’t at all expect that decision to be the one made though. My guess will be that he’ll go to a contender at the Jays level, and if I had to bet money, it’d probably be on him not regaining much, if any form at the plate.
Translation for Boras-speak. All the multi-year offers we got are $4-5 million per year, so we are going to take a one year deal and hope Cody breaks out of his funk so he can get paid what we think he is worth. Or at least closer to what he made last season than major league minimum.
Typically a 4th OF doesn’t have much upside, CB does have some Although that light is slowly flickering to darkness.
I don’t mind the idea of him as a 4th OF but truthfully the Jays shouldn’t really be in this market shopping for reclamation projects
Last year zimmer, jbj, Biggio, started way too much games due injuries. Jays need a 4th OF that isn’t a platoon or a hit or miss
LAPD would like to talk with Bellinger. Word is, he’s the chief suspect in the theft of $18M during the 2022 season.
Joe Friday:Listen punk you can stick your head in ground on some kinda acid bender. But just remember this Marijuahna is the fuse, heroin the flame and LSD is the bomb. Now go play LF like your daddy taught y’a or I’ll run your ass in. Cuz right now baseball career is a 10-52 punk!!
Not great advice Scott. Your client has been a bust for 2 years. You should be taking the 2 years. The phone is ringing it’s Stephen Drew….
This has got Chaim Bloom all over it. A one year deal at low money because he has to be cheap because John Henry wants to save money and he intends to let Bogie walk.
I think he will get a 2 year 20 to 23 mil deal, obviously an opt out after year 1. If he can have a decent year, maybe get himself a 6 year deal next year
Go sign w reds. Drury was latest of long list of comebackers who got on track at great American small park. No pressure to perform, no competition for your playing time, and you’ll for sure end up playing for a contender if you get it together as you’d surely get traded
He’s signing with Blue Jays, 2 years $16M total
With the new rules/shift going away I believe his average will increase to 250. If I were the Angels sign him for 1 year $10. I see a 250 average, 25 HRs, 15 SB’s in Anaheim.
This is why I was certain the Dodgers would keep him. A full offseason with access to trainers and facilities, and the shift going away in 2023. But I guess not.
Bellinger needs to go to a park that would favor his left handed bat. All of his power is to RF and most of his balls in play are to the right of center.
The BlueJays need more Dodgers’ cast-offs. That’ll help them win a WS. Bellinger belongs in AAA.
Oh Jimmer.
What are we going to do with you?
Boras is a drag.
I think it’s funny that everyone on this site is talking about Bellinger being washed up… using the same arguments as they used against another former left handed dodger slugger…
Unlike the Giants, I would have never handed over a massive one year deal to Joc Pederson but he actually rebounded quite nicely after two horrible seasons. I think the deck is stacked for Bellinger to do the same. I don’t think he will be an mvp
Candidate but I’m fairly confident he can post a 3 WAR season again… assuming he gets the right fit, Al East with a bunch of hitters parks, nl Central with the same.
Right on Drasco
Kiss of death is when MLB does a commercial after you. “Belli or Yeli” or “Bry-zzo.” When are they gonna learn SMH
Get it done Atlanta!
Ego adjustment first.
So I clicked on the clickbait headline — “Yankees’ Gerrit Cole Named ‘Worst Cheater’ in MLB History by Blue Jays’ Alek Manoah” — only to find that there was no such quote attributed to Alek. The only quote in the article was: “He cheated. He used a lot of, like, sticky stuff to make his pitches better. And he kinda got called out on it.”
Worst cheater in MLB history? No, he didn’t say that. He just said he cheated. I’m sure Alek knows he wasn’t the only one, not even the only one on the Astros (Verlander’s emails to the Spider Tack provider are a matter of record). Too bad for the Yankees that Cashman was dumb enough to sign Cole to the biggest pitcher contract in history, apparently without asking about the allegations raised against him as far back as 2018 by Trevor Bauer. But that’s another discussion.
Main point: any writer who lies about what a player said deserves a swirly and a pink slip, and any other writer who quotes him without correction for his own clickbait bid deserves the same.
So, as it turns out, I was wrong in exonerating Manoah. In yesterday’s version of this story, I didn’t see this text (which might be a subsequent edit, adding a crucial bit of information that was left out originally):
“Ibaka followed that up by asking who was the worst cheater in baseball history.
Manoah didn’t hesitate to single out Cole.”
Alek’s knowledge of MLB history must be pretty limited if he’s never heard of G*ylord Perry (how idiotic is it that I had to insert an asterisk because someone programmed the auto-censor to ban a famous pitcher’s first name?) or Joe Niekro.
Google “Biggest cheaters in baseball Page 2 staff” for a discussion some of the more notorious cheating pitchers in MLB history.
With legal weed in Canada, it could be awesome for Cody or the worst.