Cody Bellinger's Top MLB Landing Spots After Bo Bichette to Mets, Kyle Tucker to Dodgers

Cody Bellinger is the last man standing among the top position player free agents this offseason after Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker agreed to deals within hours of each other.

After Tucker accepted a four-year, $240 million offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night, Bichette followed by agreeing to a three-year, $126 million offer from the New York Mets on Friday.

A reunion between Bellinger and the Dodgers had been floated as a possibility earlier in the offseason, but that would seem off the board after the Tucker signing. Although it seems foolish to ever rule anything out with the Dodgers at this point.

Here are some teams that are likely to be in the mix for Bellinger as the last remaining star-level free-agent position player available.

New York Mets

At one point this offseason, the Mets were reportedly "very" interested in Bellinger. Even with Bichette in the fold, they still should be in on Bellinger since the non-Juan Soto outfield spots are currently set to be occupied by Carson Benge, who has 24 games of experience at Triple-A, and Tyrone Taylor.

Taylor is a terrific defensive outfielder who has hit .235/.284/.384 in 324 games since the start of the 2023 season.

Another reason for the Mets to pursue Bellinger is they haven't been interested in making anymore significant additions to their rotation, unless they can do it on a short-term deal, so they could go into the year with Nolan McLean, Kodai Senga, David Peterson and Clay Holmes as their top four starters.

McLean is the only guy with top-of-the-line stuff to miss bats in that group, so one thing the front office has prioritized with some of their moves already this offseason was defense. That was the idea behind trading for Marcus Semien and Bichette could help with that since he will move Mark Vientos off third base.

Bellinger was one of the best defensive outfielders in the league last season, on top of posting a 125 OPS+ in 656 plate appearances.

New York Yankees

There has been an assumption that the Yankees would reunite with Bellinger after he had a strong 2025 with the club, but talks between the two sides seem to have hit a snag.

ESPN's Buster Olney reported on Jan. 10 that the Yankees' offer to Bellinger was worth at least $30 million per season over five years, but the 2019 NL MVP is seeking a bigger deal in both years and dollars.

It seems unlikely that Bellinger will be able to get exactly what he wants in an offer after Tucker and Bichette, who are both multiple years younger than Bellinger, took short-term deals with opt-outs. Tucker can opt out after two years, while Bichette has opt-outs after each of his first two seasons.

That does bode well for the Yankees if Bellinger's market doesn't pick up. Bellinger could also get something out of a short-term agreement, as The Athletic's Brendan Kuty reported New York would be willing to include opt-outs in a deal.

There does come a point for Bellinger, who will turn 31 in July, when the opt-outs stop working in his favor. He's still young enough that getting one after next season might pan out.

The Yankees also badly need Bellinger back if they want to remain one of the favorites to represent the AL in the World Series. Jasson Domínguez is penciled in as the starting left fielder, but he has yet to establish himself as an everyday player in the big leagues.

If Domínguez, who will turn 23 on Feb. 7, does take a step forward, there's also the possibility the Yankees need a center fielder because they are banking on another good year out of Trent Grisham.

Grisham accepted the one-year qualifying offer earlier in the offseason after hitting .235/.348/.464 in 143 games last season. His 34 homers in 2025 was five fewer than he had in the previous three years combined (39 in 381 games).

If Grisham regresses to the player he was prior to 2025, the Yankees will be glad they had Bellinger's versatility on their roster.

San Francisco Giants

Admittedly, this one is the least-likely to happen compared to the other clubs mentioned. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported coming out of the winter meetings that the San Francisco Giants "checked in" on Bellinger.

Since then, it's crickets regarding anything between the Giants and Bellinger. They entered the offseason viewed as a team unlikely to spend significantly on free agents after making the big in-season trade last year to acquire Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox.

This strategy makes no sense, though, because if you're willing to go all-in on a player with a $313 million contract that runs through 2033, why are you skimping on payroll now?

It's especially silly when you are trying to build a roster that is capable of at least competing with the Dodgers, even if you won't catch up to them in 2026.

Bellinger fills a huge void for the Giants, whose projected starter in center field right now is Luis Matos. The 23-year-old Matos' 91 wRC+ last season was tied for 115th out of 195 NL players with at least 150 plate appearances.

Even though the Giants have remained on the sidelines for most of the offseason, with the exception of small deals for Tyler Mahle and Adrian Houser, they desperately need to make another move for a hitter if they want to compete for a playoff spot in 2026.