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Cody Bellinger makes BIG decision for Chicago Cubs

Originally posted on ChiCitySports | By Zack Cariola | Last updated Nov 2, 2024 2:37 PM ET

The Chicago Cubs 1st Baseman/Outfielder Cody Bellinger has opted into his deal.

Cody Bellinger has decided to remain a Chicago Cub! Bellinger had until Monday November 4th to decide whether or not to opt in or out of his deal that he signed with the Chicago Cubs. A lot of reports had Bellinger, who will be 30 in July opting out of his deal, but now that he’s decided to stay, he is set to make $27.5M this coming season. This now pushes the payroll to about $144.3M with him exercising his option.

Now that Bellinger has opted-into his deal, the Chicago Cubs now have a clearer picture as to where they can divert their resources, Bellinger looks to get a lot of the reps this season in the DH spot platooning there with Seiya Suzuki. He also looks to most likely take down the majority of the games in Right Field, where he played 49 games and had a fielding percentage of .973.

The Cubs hopefully will be getting a better offensive and defensive season from Bellinger who missed some time this year due to injury. The Cubs will need that out of him to better their chances in the coming year with hopefully reaching the playoffs for first time since 2020.

With opting into this deal, Bellinger is essentially taking another 1-year deal to hopefully make a little more money but also get the guaranteed years as well. After this season, the Chicago Cubs will once again be in this same position with Bellinger having one more opt-out available. That option will be worth $25M. For now, it’s great to see Cody Bellinger back in a Cub uniform and hopefully he’ll be leading the team to a World Series title come 2025.

This article first appeared on ChiCitySports and was syndicated with permission.

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