The New York Yankees’ latest contract offer to free-agent outfielder Cody Bellinger was for five years and between $31 million and $32 million a year ($155 million to $160 million total) without deferrals, and the club has been open to the possibility of including opt-outs, according to a source briefed on the ongoing talks.
The source spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely about the negotiations.
Bellinger’s camp has expressed interest in a deal as long as seven years, as The Athletic reported last week, and the sides continued talks over the weekend aimed at closing the gap. It’s unclear how much money Bellinger may be seeking. NJ.com’s Bob Klapisch reported that Bellinger wants between $36 million and $37 million a year. As talks unfold slowly with Bellinger, the Yankees have continued to keep tabs on potential trades, and on the free-agent markets of Bo Bichette, an infielder, and Kyle Tucker, an outfielder.
But while it’s unclear how many issues the Yankees and Bellinger disagree on, at least one area of friction appears to be differing interpretations of the free-agent market and Bellinger’s standing in it, multiple league sources say.
In other words, should Bellinger get a longer deal because he’s younger? Or has the trend in recent agreements pointed to where he should expect to land?
The three richest deals agreed to by position players this offseason were by third baseman Alex Bregman with the Chicago Cubs, first baseman Pete Alonso with the Baltimore Orioles and designated hitter Kyle Schwarber with the Philadelphia Phillies. All three contracts were for five years.
Bregman’s deal was worth $175 million, but with $70 million deferred, the present-day value is expected to be around $30 million to $31 million per season, or around $150 million to $155 million total, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
Alonso signed for $155 million, equating to $31 million in average annual value. Schwarber signed for $150 million, or $30 million in AAV.
Alonso and Bregman are clients of agent Scott Boras, who represents Bellinger. Schwarber is represented by Casey Close of Excel Sports Management.
Alonso, who recently turned 31, will be 36 years old when he’s eligible to become a free agent again. Bregman turns 32 in March, and his deal takes him through his age-36 season. Schwarber will be 33 in March and his contract will take him through his age-37 season.
Bellinger, 30, is younger than all of them, and could argue his deal deserves to be longer than theirs, bringing him to a similar stage of his playing career.
A five-year deal for Bellinger would carry him through his age-35 season. A seven-year deal would bring him through his age-37 season, like Schwarber, but a year beyond the deals Alonso and Bregman accepted.
But the Yankees could point to the length of the deals given to Bregman, Alonso and Schwarber.
It’s unclear whether Bellinger has received formal offers from clubs other than the Yankees, who multiple times this offseason have said they want to re-sign him. But the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported that Bellinger is “believed to be drawing interest from the (Los Angeles) Dodgers, (San Francisco) Giants and (New York) Mets.”
Bellinger was a big component of the Yankees’ 2025 team, posting a 5.1 WAR, according to Baseball Reference, while hitting .272 with 29 home runs, 98 RBIs and a .813 OPS. He also played well in left field, and would be expected to continue to fill in at center field, right field and first base next season.
The Yankees added Bellinger via a trade with the Cubs in December 2024, agreeing to take on all but $5 million of the $52.5 million he was owed, along with sending pitcher Cody Poteet to Chicago. Bellinger opted out of his three-year, $80-million contract in November to become a free agent — a year after he decided to not opt out of the deal when he was still with the Cubs.