{"id":404177,"date":"2026-01-10T12:47:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/404177\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T12:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:47:12","slug":"blue-jays-ranked-among-top-5-teams-to-acquire-yankees-star-slugger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/404177\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays Ranked Among Top 5 Teams To Acquire Yankees Star Slugger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6c\">After pleasantly surprising the nation in the 2025 World Series, the Toronto Blue Jays have cemented themselves as serious threats in Major League Baseball. Their work didn&#8217;t end once the postseason ended, however; their offseason has been filled with movement and difficult decisions.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6f\">In recent weeks, they made a groundbreaking move by welcoming aboard Japanese All-Star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/kazuma-okamoto-first-words-blue-jay-reveal-winning-mindset\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Kazuma Okamoto<\/a>. Adding the 29-year-old to their roster was a substantial step in the right direction if the franchise wants to be in the running for a World Series title this year.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6i\">Although the Okamoto signing is still rather fresh, recent predictions indicate that the Blue Jays might not be done making waves just yet. In fact, they&#8217;ve been ranked among the top five franchises that are likely to acquire one of the New York Yankees&#8217; top free agents Cody Bellinger.<\/p>\n<p>Potential Bellinger-Blue Jays Pairing<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/01keex91maq9rg88z05x.jpg\" alt=\"A baseball player in a gray uniform that says &quot;New York&quot; running while wearing a blue New York Yankees helmet\" title=\"A baseball player in a gray uniform that says &quot;New York&quot; running while wearing a blue New York Yankees helmet\" width=\"3836\" height=\"2157\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6u\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6y\">Somehow, someway, slugger Cody Bellinger is still floating around in free agency. As of Jan. 4, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/04\/sports\/yankees-have-edward-cabrera-trade-talks-make-new-cody-bellinger-offer\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Joel Sherman of the New York Post<\/a> (subscription required) reported that the Yankees extended a second contract to the veteran southpaw. However, the race continues \u2014 a deal has yet to be made. As a result, speculation still looms about where Bellinger could end up. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"71\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/25352691-ranking-yankees-cody-bellingers-top-10-landing-spots-amid-latest-mlb-rumors\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report<\/a>, Toronto is one of the teams that could be legitimate suitors for Bellinger. Taking into account the Blue Jays&#8217; dire need for lefty support, this wouldn&#8217;t be a bad deal by any means.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"74\">During his 2025 campaign, he slashed .272\/.334\/.480 with 29 homers and 98 RBIs through 152 games. This was Bellinger&#8217;s first season playing with New York, previously spending two years with the Chicago Cubs and six years with the Los Angeles Dodgers.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"77\">Although Bellinger seems to be a solid fit for Toronto, trying to land him would come with a strong load of competition. As Miller notes, there&#8217;s still a possibility for him to return to New York, particularly after being extended another offer. Outside of the Yankees, other potential top-five suitors include the New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, and, of course, the Chicago Cubs. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7a\">Bellinger continues to be a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/mlb-insider-blue-jays-will-sign-one-of-top-offensive-stars-free-agency\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">hot commodity in free agency<\/a>, but he isn&#8217;t going to settle. The Blue Jays aren&#8217;t considered the most probable team to sign him, but improbable doesn&#8217;t mean impossible. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7d\">The MLB offseason is known to have elements of uncertainty leading up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/blue-jays-boss-ross-atkins-talks-future-moves-impact-current-roster\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">shocking moves<\/a>. Could this be the case for Bellinger?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After pleasantly surprising the nation in the 2025 World Series, the Toronto Blue Jays have cemented themselves as&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-404177","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}