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Ranking Yankees OF Cody Bellinger's Top 10 Landing Spots Amid Latest MLB Rumors
Two winters ago, Cody Bellinger was one of the "Boras Four" free agents who still had not signed by the time spring training began. He finally agreed to a three-year deal (with opt-outs) with the Cubs in late February.
So, early January and still available? No sweat.
Well, maybe a little sweat, because that waiting game didn't play out the way that Boras and Co. were hoping. MLB Trade Rumors had Bellinger projected for 12 years and $264M. Each of the other three (Blake Snell, Matt Chapman and Jordan Montgomery) was "supposed" to fetch at least $150M. But all four had to settle for short-term, prove-it deals instead.
The good news for Bellinger is that he has, indeed, proved it. Aside from winning 2019 NL MVP, 2025 was the most productive season of his career. It was also one of his healthiest seasons, missing just 10 games after back-to-back years north of 30 absences. And he provided quite a bit of value on defense, with at least 40 appearances in each of left, center and right field.
Will he now get the nine-figure deal that never came in 2023-24?
When will he sign his next contract?
And, most importantly, who wins this bidding war?
It has been three months since B/R's Joel Reuter wrote up initial landing spots for Bellinger, but quite a bit has happened/changed since then, so it's time for a refresh.
All signs these days seem to be pointing to either the Mets or the Yankees, but plenty of teams have shown at least some interest in Bellinger this offseason.
10. Philadelphia Phillies
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Current Projected Outfield: LF Brandon Marsh, RF Adolis García, CF Justin Crawford (plus Nick Castellanos and Johan Rojas)
At the beginning of the offseason, the Phillies made a lot of sense as a landing spot for Cody Bellinger.
They had just lost both Max Kepler and Harrison Bader as free agents. It sure seemed like Nick Castellanos was on his way out of town. There was a chance they wouldn't re-sign Kyle Schwarber. They had not yet signed Adolis García. And talk of Justin Crawford as a possible starter was much more wild speculation than the expectation.
Needless to say, things have changed.
We still rather expect Castellanos will be gone one way or the other by Opening Day. Even so, if the Phillies are committed to finding out what they've got in Crawford, investing in Bellinger—and embracing what would be close to a $400M payroll including the tax bill—doesn't make much sense.
Then again, García is on a one-year deal, Marsh hits free agency after 2027 and only time will tell if and when Crawford makes a real impact in the majors. And if the payroll situation was the biggest deterrent against pursuing Bellinger, they wouldn't be in the mix for Bo Bichette, right?
Maybe they'll surprise us and fully embrace a Dodgers, Mets or Blue Jays-like approach of just laughably blowing past the luxury tax threshold for the next couple of years.
9. Los Angeles Angels
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Current Projected Outfield: LF Jo Adell, CF Bryce Teodosio, RF Jorge Soler (and DH Mike Trout)
The Angels already didn't have a particularly good outfield in 2025. And in trading Taylor Ward for Grayson Rodriguez, they removed their one legitimate asset in the outfield.
Jo Adell hit 37 home runs, but with a sub-.300 on-base percentage and terrible defense that kept his value added to a minimum. Jorge Soler is basically just an older version of Adell. Bryce Teodosio has a career .523 OPS in 55 MLB games played. And though Mike Trout stayed healthier than usual last season, it's partially because he exclusively played DH after April 30.
Basically, nothing is set in stone with this outfield, and adding a versatile and valuable outfielder like Cody Bellinger could be huge. And though they haven't had a winning season in a decade, they pretty much always have a top-10 payroll and could surely find it in the budget to afford Belli.
Are they legitimately trying to win in 2026, though?
They've spent a grand total of less than $13M this offseason on a 37-year-old southpaw (Drew Pomeranz) and three pitchers who used to be good (Alek Manoah, Jordan Romano and Kirby Yates), and they traded their final year of team control on Ward for an oft-injured pitcher who missed all of 2025 (Grayson Rodriguez).
Those aren't the moves of a team that's all-in on winning now, but never sleep on the possibility of Arte Moreno writing a big check to a hitter in his early 30s.
8. Pittsburgh Pirates
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Current Projected Outfield: CF Oneil Cruz, RF Bryan Reynolds, LF Jake Mangum/Ryan O'Hearn
If the Pirates were serious about spending serious money this offseason, what a potentially fantastic spot this would be for it.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Jason Mackey reported earlier this week that the Pirates could be targeting third baseman Eugenio Suárez after missing out on Kazuma Okamoto. Getting his right-handed power bat into the lineup would be quite the move to put a capstone on what may well be their most aggressive offseason ever.
But so would signing Bellinger, who could also improve the defense by leaps and bounds.
Nobody committed more outfield errors in 2025 than Oneil Cruz's 11. He does have maybe the best arm of any outfielder in the game today, but he simply doesn't have a great glove or above-average range in center.
Cruz ranked almost dead last in the league in Defensive Runs Saved (minus-14) in 2025. Worse yet, he was tied with new Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe in that department, while projected starting shortstop Nick Gonzales checked in with a minus-11. Could be an all-time terrible up-the-middle defense.
Bring in Bellinger, though, and Cruz can DH or maybe slide to LF where he would do less damage. Perhaps even just move him back to shortstop until MLB's top prospect Konnor Griffin is ready to become the final piece of the puzzle.
7. Arizona Diamondbacks
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Current Projected Outfield: RF Corbin Carroll, LF Lourdes Gurriel Jr., CF Jake McCarthy/Alek Thomas
Corbin Carroll is one of the brightest young stars in Major League Baseball, and his eight-year, $111M contract has already been highway robbery for the Diamondbacks.
But the rest of Arizona's outfield? Yikes.
Alek Thomas made 139 appearances in center field in 2025, but he has a career .497 OPS vs. LHP and has amounted to 0.1 bWAR over the past two seasons combined. Meanwhile, both Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Jake McCarthy took major steps backward after respectable showings in 2024.
As far as the pipeline goes, Druw Jones was their No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 draft, but he hasn't even progressed to Double-A yet. 2024 first-round pick Ryan Waldschmidt could make an impact soon, but that's about it.
So, yeah, they could use Cody Bellinger.
The real question is: Can they possibly afford to bring the Arizona native back home?
With arbitration estimates factored in, the Snakes are already looking at a payroll slightly north of $200M. They're one semi-significant signing away from what would be their first top-10 payroll since 2003, and signing Belli would push them pretty close to the luxury tax threshold—any they probably still need to add at least one more starting pitcher to have any real hope of contending in 2026.
Of course, there is the ever-rumbling possibility of trading away Ketel Marte. If they could unload the $103.5M left on his contract and acquire a solid, inexpensive arm in the process, signing Bellinger suddenly becomes a much more viable option.
6. Los Angeles Dodgers
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Current Projected Outfield: RF Teoscar Hernández, CF Tommy Edman, LF Andy Pages
If Cody Bellinger is intent on getting at least five years or at least $150M, the Dodgers' interest level is believed to be pretty low.
At any rate, that has been the scuttlebutt on the Kyle Tucker front. They're not looking for any sort of 10-year, $400M deal, but they'll be ready with a more-than-competitive offer if either outfielder becomes open to a two- or three-year deal.
This flies in the face of the way the Dodgers have been operating in recent years, throwing around long-term contracts with all sorts of deferrals, as though $1 billion would be just a drop in the bucket less than a decade from now.
However, A) that was never going to be a decade-long, sustainable approach, even for the Dodgers, and B) the hope is that their outfield-heavy farm system—the Dodgers have three of MLB.com's top seven outfield prospects—will be ready to take the reins in a couple of years.
None of those prospects is ready yet, though, and between Andy Pages' postseason struggles (to put it lightly) and Tommy Edman's injury history, the Dodgers would maybe be willing to give Bellinger a $40M AAV on a two-year contract.
Basically, the longer Bellinger's free agency drags out, the more likely it is that he settles for a short-term deal and ends up back with the Dodgers.
5. Toronto Blue Jays
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Current Projected Outfield: CF Daulton Varsho, RF Anthony Santander, LF Nathan Lukes (with George Springer, Myles Straw and Addison Barger also among the options for regular work)
By all accounts, the Blue Jays have been working diligently to land either Kyle Tucker or Bo Bichette.
Signing another big bat would push their 2026 payroll well north of $300M, but they do have all of Daulton Varsho, George Springer, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber and possibly José Berríos (player option) coming off the books next winter. Biting the bullet on a big tax payment for one year before perhaps reeling things back in next year is clearly the plan here.
And if they're after one of arguably the two biggest fish on the market, why wouldn't they also be a top candidate to sign Cody Bellinger?
Back in mid-November, ESPN's Jeff Passan said, "The Blue Jays see him (Bellinger) as a perfectly good alternative to Tucker." And it certainly makes sense that if Tucker signs before Bellinger, every team that was pursuing the former would suddenly have a drastically increased interest in the latter.
Whether it's Tucker or Bellinger, getting some long-term left-handed power into the lineup would be the goal. Daulton Varsho hit 20 home runs in just 271 trips to the plate this past season, but he only has one year left before free agency and has never been a consistently solid source of OPS. Having Bellinger for 5-6 years of protecting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. the way he protected Aaron Judge in 2025 would be swell.
4. Chicago Cubs
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Current Projected Outfield: CF Pete Crow-Armstrong, LF Ian Happ, RF Seiya Suzuki
It has barely been a full year since the Cubs salary-dumped Cody Bellinger in a trade with the Yankees.
Would they really invest in him for the third time in a little over three years?
Given the questionable long-term state of their outfield, why not?
Not only is Seiya Suzuki a considerable defensive liability in right field, but he and Ian Happ are each only signed for one more year. And with what was their top outfield prospect Owen Caissie going to Miami for Edward Cabrera, Chicago's outfield situation heading into 2027 is shaping up to be PCA and IDK.
Sure, they could let it ride this year and reassess next winter, when Randy Arozarena and Daulton Varsho are arguably the headliners of the free agent crop of outfielders. But signing Bellinger now would both substantially improve the defense in 2026 and stabilize the future.
And now that they've got Cabrera for three years with a projected price tag of $3.75M in 2026, any money that the Cubs had earmarked for upgrading the rotation is available to be thrown at a Bellinger reunion.
In the decade since signing the Jason Heyward contract that blew up in their faces, though, the Cubs have been reluctant to ink long-term deals, save for getting Dansby Swanson during the Great Winter of the Shortstop. But this just might be an exception to the rule.
3. San Francisco Giants
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Current Projected Outfield: CF Jung Hoo Lee, LF Heliot Ramos, RF Drew Gilbert/Luis Matos
Say this much for the Giants: They would really benefit from adding Cody Bellinger's glove.
San Francisco's outfield ranked dead-last in Outs Above Average in 2025, as well as bottom three in both Fielding Run Value and Defensive Runs Saved. No matter how you slice it, they stunk. And of the five Giants to log at least 110 innings in the outfield, the only one who had a positive DRS (Mike Yastrzemski) is also the only one who isn't coming back in 2026.
The flip side of the coin, though, is that Oracle Park would be a disaster for Bellinger's bat. He has 225 career home runs, but Statcast suggests he would only have 138 if all of those balls had been hit in San Francisco, which is 20 fewer than the next-worst venue.
It's more than just theory, too. In 48 career games played at Oracle Park, Bellinger has averaged one home run for every 63 trips to plate. Of the 25 venues in which he has made at least 30 career plate appearances, that is his worst rate.
Of course, if the Giants opted to avoid hitters who struggle at Oracle Park, they would have a hard time finding anyone to sign. And while Belli's offensive numbers would be expected to drop, he'd still be better than the current right field contingent of Luis Matos and Drew Gilbert, who posted a .564 OPS and a .532 OPS, respectively, in home games last season.
2. New York Mets
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Current Projected Outfield: RF Juan Soto, CF Tyrone Taylor, LF Well Guess What It's You
After trading away both Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil and doing nothing yet to replace them, the Mets presently have two outfielders on their roster—and even Tyrone Taylor is the furthest thing from an everyday staple, posting a .598 OPS last year and averaging 341 plate appearances over the past five seasons.
Both Carson Benge and Jett Williams rank top 30 among all prospects on MLB.com's pipeline and could be options. However, Williams has predominantly played shortstop over the past three years, Benge was only drafted 18 months ago and they both struggled at the plate in limited action at the Triple-A level this past fall—Benge, in particular, with a .583 OPS in 24 games.
In other words, they have to do something. And even though their 10 highest-paid players already account for a sum of $215.8M against the luxury tax payroll, when has that ever slowed down Steve Cohen?
Now, that something could be pursuing a reunion with either Harrison Bader or Michael Conforto, both of whom are still available. Trade candidates Steven Kwan and Jarren Duran are also still out there as possibilities. There's also Kyle Tucker, of course.
But even before moving Nimmo and McNeil, scooping up a key free agent from the Yankees for a second consecutive offseason has always kind of felt like the likeliest move the Mets would make, if they did anything significant in the outfield. And nowadays it's really feeling like their Plan A, even though there haven't been any reports in the past two months linking the Mets to Bellinger.
1. New York Yankees
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Current Projected Outfield: RF Aaron Judge, CF Trent Grisham, LF Jasson Domínguez
Maybe this is the year Jasson Domínguez breaks through for some sustained success.
Maybe Spencer Jones—after racking up 35 home runs, 29 stolen bases and a .932 OPS in 116 games played in the minors in 2025—breaks camp with the Yankees and takes Domínguez's job in left field.
Or maybe both of those young'uns leave something to be desired and it ends up being José Caballero getting regular action in the outfield.
Regardless, the Yankees' options sans Bellinger are more plentiful/legitimate than what the Mets have at their disposal, which would make Queens feel like the more logical fit than The Bronx...
If we didn't have Jon Heyman's report for The New York Post on New Year's Day that the Yankees made an official offer to Bellinger, as well as Joel Sherman's subsequent report for the same outlet on Jan. 4 that the Bronx Bombers made a second, increased offer.
Granted, had either been a lucrative enough offer, we wouldn't still be speculating on where Bellinger is headed. But it does seem like the Yankees are presently the team most desperate to get a deal done with Bellinger—after spending the past two months doing basically nothing aside from watching the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Orioles get stronger.
And should the decision come down to venue, one would think that Bellinger would be happy to continue playing home games at Yankee Stadium. He had a .909 OPS there in 2025 compared to .715 on the road. (Though, he had a 1.235 OPS in the three-game series at Citi Field.)
