{"id":397625,"date":"2026-01-09T04:53:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T04:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/397625\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T04:53:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T04:53:07","slug":"yankees-have-offered-bellinger-more-than-30mm-per-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/397625\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees Have Offered Bellinger More Than $30MM Per Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Yankees have made multiple offers to\u00a0Cody Bellinger<\/a> in recent weeks. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic<\/a> reports that the most recent had an average annual value north of $30MM. However, the sides are still held up on contract length.<\/p>\n

Kuty writes that Bellinger\u2019s camp continues to push for a seven-year contract. It\u2019s not known how many years the Yankees are willing to go, but it has thus far apparently been less than seven. Jon Morosi of The MLB Network<\/a> suggested earlier this week that the team was more comfortable with a four- or five-year commitment.<\/p>\n

The rumored proposal from New York would put Bellinger in the range of the most expensive bats to sign this offseason, at least on an annual basis. Kyle Schwarber<\/a> re-signed with the Phillies for five years and $150MM. Pete Alonso<\/a> received a five-year, $155MM deal from Baltimore. If the Yankees get their wish regarding the contract length, Bellinger\u2019s deal likely ends up looking a lot like the Schwarber and Alonso pacts. MLB Trade Rumors settled on a five-year, $140MM contract in our list of\u00a0the top 50 free agents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As Kuty notes, a contract exceeding $30MM a year would make Bellinger one of the highest-paid outfielders in the league. Juan Soto<\/a>, Aaron Judge<\/a>, Mike Trout<\/a>, and Mookie Betts<\/a> (if he still counts) are the only outfielders making more than $30MM per season. It would also be a significant jump from his recent contracts, as the market has treated him with trepidation in previous years.<\/p>\n

After the Dodgers moved on from Bellinger following the 2022 season, the Cubs scooped him up on a one-year, $17.5MM deal. Bellinger rewarded Chicago with a 20\/20 campaign, but it wasn\u2019t enough to land a long-term contract. He ended up back with the Cubs on a three-year, $80MM deal with opt-outs after each season. Bellinger didn\u2019t opt out after a middling 2024 and was then traded to New York. The Yankees were able to land him just by sending over Cody Poteet<\/a> and agreeing to pay all but $5MM left on Bellinger\u2019s contract.<\/p>\n

Bellinger unsurprisingly opted out of the final year of his deal after a strong season in New York. Regardless of where he ends up, he should be able to top the $25MM he was slated to make in 2026. Bellinger slugged 29 home runs last year, the most since his NL MVP campaign in 2019. He added 13 steals and nearly drove in 100 runs. Bellinger also provided stellar defense, with both Defensive Runs Saved (+11) and Outs Above Average (+7) praising his work in the field. Bellinger logged 300+ innings at all three outfield positions. He also made a handful of appearances at first base. The Yankees didn\u2019t need his services in the infield with Paul Goldschmidt<\/a> on board, but he could be an asset there if needed.<\/p>\n

In addition to the considerable counting stats, Bellinger also made some improvements under the hood in 2025. He bumped his hard-hit rate to 37.9%. That mark is just above league average, but it\u2019s a big improvement from recent seasons. Bellinger\u2019s 31.4% hard-hit rate in 2023 was among the reasons he failed to secure a long-term deal after his first year with the Cubs. While he hit .307 that season, it was likely fueled by a career-high .319 BABIP. His xBA (.268) was nearly 40 points lower than his actual mark. Bellinger\u2019s hard-hit rate improved to a still-underwhelming 32.9% in 2024, while his bat speed slipped to 69 mph, which ranked in the 13th percentile.<\/p>\n

Bellinger also made more contact this past season. His 13.7% strikeout rate was the best mark of his career, as was his 7.6% swinging-strike rate. Bellinger ranked 26th among all qualified hitters with a 91% zone contact rate. He\u2019d only been above 87% once in his career before 2025. Average batted ball metrics combined with elite contact skills could portend continued success for the 30-year-old Bellinger, particularly if he stays in New York. He slashed an uninspiring .241\/.301\/.414 on the road last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Yankees have made multiple offers to\u00a0Cody Bellinger in recent weeks. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reports that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,8298,462,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-397625","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cody-bellinger","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}