Yankees Have Cody Bellinger's Best Market to Compete With

According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com , the dynamic outfielder will have a lot of eyes on him in free agency. There won't be a Cody Poteet discount this time around.

"This should be the best market he's had," one American League executive told Feinsand. "He was a real difference-maker for the Yankees this season."

An NL executive felt the same about Bellinger's free agency.

“I do think he will get a more substantial guarantee than the last few years,” the executive said. “He’s proved he can stay healthy, he’s still on the younger side, and he’s an athlete who can legitimately play multiple spots.”

Bellinger's 29 home runs are the most he has had since his MVP campaign, when he smashed 47 for the Los Angeles Dodgers that season. His 4.9 WAR, according to Fangraphs, is also the highest since that campaign when he was the National League's best player and managed to fend off Christian Yelich. He had a 7.8 WAR that year.

Whether he looks to have an encore in pinstripes is the big question. That NL executive is skeptical this will happen.

“I think they’ll obviously be in on him, but there will be a lot of competition,” the NL executive went on to say. “And they seem to be one of the clubs that doesn’t chase above their limit, like with Soto last year.”

Whether Bellinger is back with the Yankees or not, the interest he'll draw is a long time coming. After winning MVP at such a young age, it looked like Bellinger would be one of the faces in baseball for years, swapping posters with the likes of Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. Years of injury and poor play derailed those aspirations.

Following the MVP season, Bellinger hit .203/.272/.376 across 1,143 plate appearances and 295 games. He also hit six fewer home runs during that span than he did the year he won MVP. Bellinger finally turned things around after being non-tendered by the Dodgers and finding a home with the Chicago Cubs.

Bellinger may never reach the level of stardom in this league that it felt he was preordained for in his early 20s, but one thing he and Scott Boras will finally be able to do is cash in on a multi-year deal. The super agent was able to turn a $12.5 million tryout deal with the Cubs into a three-year, $80 million contract the following season. Bellinger opted out of the final year of his most recent deal, and now he and his agent will look to test the waters, blowing by their previous monetary triumphs.

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