The Yankees can improve their roster this winter whether they re-sign Juan Soto or not.
The Chicago Cubs never expected outfielder Cody Bellinger to pick up the player option on his contract this season. Now, they're scrambling to dump his salary to any takers for the right deal. Enter the Yankees, who are eager to make up for a devastating World Series loss.
On Thursday, Joel Sherman of The New York Post revealed the following through an industry source:
"The Cubs are determined to trade either Bellinger (due $27.5 million in 2025 with a $25 million player option in 2026 or $5 million buyout) or Seiya Suzuki (two years at $36 million) to reallocate that money elsewhere."
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One deal, proposed by Sherman, would see the Yankees involved in a three-way trade between the San Francisco Giants and the Cubs.
"Could, for example, the core of a trade be the Yanks sending (Marcus) Stroman (owed $18 million in 2025 with an $18 million 2026 optioned triggered if he reaches 140 innings) to the Giants (who were interested in him last offseason, albeit with since-fired Farhan Zaidi in charge of baseball operations)," Sherman writes, "and San Francisco dealing lefty reliever Taylor Rogers (owed $12 million in 2025) to the Cubs, who would still save a lot in 2025 and potentially all of 2026 by sending Bellinger to The Bronx?"
Yankees fans would celebrate this deal, as it would send Stroman, who didn't make the 2024 postseason roster, away while bringing in Bellinger, a Gold Glove-winning outfielder with something to prove. The experiment would also only last two years max -- Bellinger has an opt-out at the end of the 2025 season that contains a $5 million buyout.
Bellinger hasn't been the same player since he won the 2019 NL MVP Award. That season, he slashed .305/.406/.629 with 47 home runs and 115 RBIs.
In two seasons with the Cubs, after a shockingly steep drop in production that saw him batting .206 with a below-average 76 OPS+ between 2020 and 2023, he hasn't been bad either. Since then, Bellinger has batted .286/.340/.475 with a 118 OPS+.
The expectation is that at Yankee Stadium, the left-handed hitter can continue his steady comeback and potentially even see a rise in power with the short porch in right field.