The Yankees are buying first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger from the Cubs, stories Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Cubs additionally ship money to the Yanks and obtain right-hander Cody Poteet. Per Jack Curry of YES Community, it’s $5MM going to the Yankees. Per Jesse Rogers of ESPN, that’ll be $2.5MM this yr and $2.5MM subsequent yr. The second $2.5MM will go in the direction of both his buyout or his 2026 wage, relying on his opt-out resolution, per Passan. Bob Nightengale of USA Immediately stories that Bellinger has been advised he’ll be taking part in heart subject for the Yanks.
Bellinger heading to the Bronx is a logical match and it has been in loads of rumors not too long ago. In the beginning of the offseason, the Yankees misplaced Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo and Anthony Rizzo to free company, opening up two holes of their outfield and one at first base. Since Bellinger has performed each the outfield and at first, he was seen as a doable match for his or her 2025 plans in numerous methods. The Yanks pursued Soto for a very long time however he finally landed with the Mets, pushing the Yankees to a number of backup plans. They’ve since signed left-hander Max Fried and purchased right-hander Devin Williams to improve their rotation and bullpen.
For the Cubs, Bellinger has appeared expendable for a couple of causes. On the one hand, Pete Crow-Armstrong emerged as a viable glove-first heart fielder in 2024, which was Bellinger’s main spot the yr earlier than. Michael Busch additionally took over the primary base spot. With Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki within the outfield corners, Bellinger was a bit squeezed. The Cubs solely compounded the issue after they acquired Kyle Tucker from the Astros.
Extra to come back.
