Cody Bellinger made his curiosity within the Yankees identified.
A couple of week earlier than the Yankees traded for the 2019 Nationwide League MVP, basic supervisor Brian Cashman heard how badly Bellinger needed to be a Bronx Bomber.
“I’ve been hearing it for a long time, including his agent, Scott Boras, saying, ‘Can you get him over here? He’s driving me crazy. He wants to be a Yankee,’” Cashman stated Wednesday.
That need, Bellinger defined Thursday, stemmed from a easy actuality.
“The baseball career is short,” Bellinger stated throughout an introductory Zoom name. “I have an opportunity to play for one of the best franchises in all of sports. I knew there was interest, and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. I’m just glad it was all able to work out.”
The Yankees despatched spot starter Cody Poteet to the Chicago Cubs to accumulate Bellinger, giving them a middle-of-the-order hitter and a premium defender at first base or within the outfield.
Whether or not Bellinger’s major place finally ends up being first base, heart discipline or left discipline depends upon who else the Yankees purchase this winter, however the 29-year-old made it clear to supervisor Aaron Boone throughout a post-trade telephone name that he’s able to play anyplace.
“I think that it helps the teams that I’m on win. I enjoy doing that,” Bellinger stated.
“I learned a lot from [former Los Angeles Dodgers teammate] Kiké Hernández. He’s probably one of the best players that I’ve seen at being able to roam around the field and just be above average or excellent at all the positions he plays. I got to see that it’s possible and I knew that I had the ability to do it.”
That versatility was interesting to the Yankees, contemplating final 12 months’s beginning first baseman, Anthony Rizzo, and left fielder, Alex Verdugo, are each free brokers. Aaron Decide is anticipated to slip again to proper discipline following the free-agent departure of Juan Soto, leaving a void in heart discipline as nicely.
Additionally interesting was Bellinger’s left-handed bat. Bellinger pulled 15 of his 18 dwelling runs final season, regardless of enjoying his dwelling video games at Wrigley Subject, the place it’s 353 toes down the right-field line.
Proper discipline at Yankee Stadium is barely 314 toes down the road. The Yankees are additionally set to play six video games at George M. Steinbrenner Subject — the Tampa Bay Rays’ non permanent dwelling within the wake of Hurricane Milton — which options the identical dimensions.
“I really believe he’s gonna play up offensively in our yard, and I think we’re getting a great person to add to the room,” Boone stated of Bellinger. “I’m excited. I know he’s really excited. I think he’s gonna be an important piece to the puzzle.”
Bellinger burst onto the scene with the Dodgers in 2017, hitting 39 dwelling runs in his debut season en path to Nationwide League Rookie of the Yr honors. He struck a career-high 47 dwelling runs throughout his MVP marketing campaign two years later.
However Bellinger underwent proper shoulder surgical procedure after the 2020 season, and his numbers dropped considerably. He hit .193 and totaled 29 dwelling runs over the subsequent two seasons, prompting the Dodgers to non-tender him.
Bellinger signed a one-year prove-it contract with the Cubs in 2023, and he responded with a resurgent season, hitting .307 with 26 dwelling runs and 97 RBI in 130 video games.
Final offseason, Bellinger re-signed with the Cubs with a three-year, $80 million contract that includes opt-outs after yearly. He hit .266 with 18 homers and 78 RBI in 130 video games in 2024, then opted into the second 12 months of his contract.
Looking for wage aid, the Cubs shipped Bellinger to the Yankees shortly after swinging a blockbuster commerce to accumulate outfielder Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros. They agreed to ship $5 million to the Yankees to assist cowl Bellinger’s $27.5 million wage this 12 months and both his $25 million wage or $5 million buyout subsequent offseason.
“I get business,” Bellinger stated. “I’m very good at separating the business and the baseball. I’m the baseball player and there’s business people in this game, so I just want to prepare and play the best baseball I can.”
Becoming a member of the Yankees is a full-circle expertise for Bellinger, whose father performed for the staff from 1999-2001 and gained two World Collection in pinstripes.
“He plays it all cool, but I know deep down he’s really excited [about the trade]. We lived out in upstate [New York] growing up, and I grew up with the Pettittes,” Bellinger stated.
“I have some very solid memories of it. My parents did a good job of bringing the camcorder around, and back when I was younger, in high school or even before that, we would watch some home videos.”
The Yankees hope Bellinger might be a part of the answer for changing Soto, who signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets after his highly effective bat helped take the Bombers to the 2024 World Collection.
The Yankees have additionally signed left-handed ace Max Fried and traded for shutdown nearer Devin Williams since Soto’s exit.
“Team building is about gravitating to the best players in the baseball universe,” Cashman stated. “In Juan Soto’s case, it was a generational talent who came off the board and went a different direction, so we adjust, and we can continue to adjust all the time. It’s the ebbs and flow of a baseball winter.”
