Yankees tweak latest offer to try to end Cody Bellinger saga

The New York Yankees continue to stay put while everybody else gets better.

They haven't made much of a splash in free agency, and they may even lose their own star free agent. Cody Bellinger has yet to sign a new deal, and he's reportedly adamant about getting a seven-year deal worth at least $32 million a year.

The Yankees, on the other hand, haven't moved from a five-year, $160 million offer. However, according to The Athletic's Brendan Kuty, they might be willing to make a couple of tweaks to the structure of the deal to sweeten the offer.

Yankees are starting to cave to Cody Bellinger's demands 

"There have been no new reports of teams making formal offers to Bellinger since it surfaced that the Yankees extended to him a deal worth as much as $160 million over five years that included no deferrals and the possibility of opt-outs," Kuty wrote.

Brian Cashman's team is reportedly considering adding opt-outs to the contract.

"The Athletic has since learned, via a league source who has been briefed on the ongoing talks, that the Yankees would be willing to include opt-outs after Year 2 and Year 3 of the five-year deal," he added.

Bellinger's market hasn't been as active as anticipated, but that doesn't mean that multiple teams aren't keeping tabs on him. He may even choose to stay in the Big Apple and take his talents to Queens to join the New York Mets. 

The Yankees are more than just a Cody Bellinger away from being a World Series contender. Then again, even though they're clearly no longer the Evil Empire, losing their most prominent free agent over minor details would speak volumes about the current state of the organization and why it hasn't won the big prize in more than a decade.