Cubs Star Named Better Yankees Fit Than Cody Bellinger

"The only category where Bellinger, 30, has been better than Tucker, 28, over the past five seasons is outs above average, which is a range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a player has saved," Kirschner wrote. "Bellinger had more fWAR than Tucker this season, but the latter was still the better overall hitter even as he battled a hairline fracture in his right hand, and a calf strain, injuries that limited Tucker to 136 games."

Another point Kirschner made is that he believes Tucker will age better than Bellinger.

"As they age, Tucker's offensive profile is less risky than Bellinger's. Outside of 2025, a down year by his standards, Tucker hasn't had difficulty hitting the ball hard, while Bellinger has only one season in the past five years in which he ranked in the top half of the league in average exit velocity," Kirschner continued. "Bellinger outperforms his metrics because he can pull the ball, which maximizes any hitter's production. But Tucker has a higher pull percentage than Bellinger and hits the ball harder, meaning he would benefit greatly as a left-handed hitter playing half his games at Yankee Stadium."

The Yankees Always Hunt for Plan B

As the World Series plays out, with the Los Angeles Dodgers looking to win back-to-back championships, the big difference between the west coast's resident powerhouse and the Yankees is how they choose to spend their money and fill out their roster. In that off-season Freddie Freeman was available, they signed him over Anthony Rizzo. Freddie regularly hits bombs in the Fall Classic, and Rizzo, the Yankee signing that off-season, is an MLB analyst.

The Dodgers went all out for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Yankees refused to pay him more than Gerrit Cole, then opted for Marcus Stroman, who also has one foot out of the league.

There is still much time between now and when Tucker makes his choice, but even as the Dodgers play in the World Series, they have been linked to the star outfielder. There are no talks about the team valuing Belliger's defensive versatility. They see the better player, and then they go for it.

If the Dodgers opted for Plan B and chose to spread the money around when it came to Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez, Freeman, and Yamamoto, they might have as disappointing a finish as the Yankees do every year. You get what you pay for, and in the case of the Dodgers, that's frequent trips to the World Series.

They don't pay guys who have one foot out of pro baseball as much as the Yankees do. There's a better chance that Clint Frazier, Alex Verdugo, Stroman and Rizzo do a Yankee-themed podcast at Billy's Sports Bar than half of them finding a team this winter.

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