The New York Yankees have re-signed Cody Bellinger to a rather risky contract.
The New York Yankees have finally agreed to terms with Cody Bellinger, re-signing the outfielder on a five-year, $162.5 million contract.
The deal includes opt outs after the second and third seasons and also features a full no-trade clause, via ESPN's Jeff Passan. Not only that, but Bellinger is also receiving a $20 million signing bonus as part of the pact.
Scott Boras strikes again.
The average annual value of $32.5 million certainly isn't bad, particularly considering what Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette all received. But the full no-trade clause was definitely surprising.
Let me just preface everything I am about to say by stating that the Yankees had to do this. They didn't have any other viable options for left field other than Jasson Dominguez, and their lineup would have taken a major step backward sans Bellinger.
But it's also true that this contract could become an albatross in a couple of years.
Bellinger is 30 years old with a rather extensive injury history. And if we are being completely honest, he has only had two really good seasons the past six years.
New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger. Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images.Remember when New York re-signed D.J. LeMahieu on a six-year deal following the 2020 campaign? That contract aged like milk, and LeMahieu was actually a better player at the time than Bellinger is now.
I'm not necessarily saying that Bellinger will follow the same path as LeMahieu, but we cannot completely discount the possibility, especially given the lefty's hideous home-road splits last season.
It's entirely possible that Bellinger will never utilize either of the two opt outs he has in his agreement and will simply play out this five-year contract. In fact, I actually think that, given his age, that is the most probable scenario.
Bellinger posted a .751 OPS as recently as 2024 with the Chicago Cubs. It's not out of the realm of chance for Bellinger to have a similar year in 2026.
It's also not entirely crazy to think that the former NL MVP could be in for a significant decline within the next two campaigns.
However, the Yankees didn't have much of a choice here. Retaining Bellinger was the right thing to do for a team that is in win-now mode with Aaron Judge turning 34 in April. It just might not turn out the way they hoped.