After the 2024 season, the New York Yankees lost outfielder Juan Soto to the largest free agent contract in baseball history, when Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million deal with the New York Mets. The Yankees compensated by trading for former National League MVP and Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger from the Chicago Cubs.
Now, slightly more than a year later, the Yankees must be experiencing â as the Hall of Fame Yankee catcher Yogi Berra once said â deja vu all over again. Bellinger is now a free agent and, though the Yankees want him back, with only six weeks to go before the opening of spring training, he has yet to sign with New York or anywhere else.
“Bellinger hit 29 home runs and played elite defense for the Yankees in left field, and that ability to contribute on both sides of the ball is why they desperately want him back,” wrote Empire Sports Media Yankees analyst Ryan Garcia on Friday.
“Whether the Yankees will or will not get this deal done remains to be seen,” Garcia continued. “But the recent reporting over the last week would indicate that these two sides are more likely to complete one than not.”
Yankees Want Bellinger Back â at a Pay Cut
The consensus to which Garcia referred was echoed by MLB.com insider Mark Feinsand on Friday, when he said that âthe Yankees are holding firm to their price, not wanting to bid against themselves for Bellinger, though most believe the two sides will ultimately find common ground and come to terms on a deal.â
But another top baseball insider, Buster Olney of ESPN, wasn’t so sure. In an interview with Canada’s TSN Radio early Friday morning, the 36-year veteran writer said that the Yankees and their wayward outfielder are now at an “impasse” in their negotiations.
“Thereâs definitely an impasse with the Yankees and Cody Bellinger,” Olney told Aaron Korolnek and Dave Feschuk, hosts of the First Up program on TSN Radio. “They want him back, but my sense is theyâre offering something like five years and $130 million â essentially a pay cut for a player who had a very good year for them.”
Olney: Yankees Have a Fallback Plan
Bellinger was paid about $27 million in 2025. If Olney’s estimate of the Yankeesâ current contract offer to the 30-year-old outfielder is correct, he would make only $26 million in the upcoming season, were he to accept the deal.
But if the Yankees and Bellinger cannot find common ground to bring him back to the Bronx, according to Olney, the Bombers have another way they can go.
“Bo Bichette becomes a sort of safety net for the Yankees if they canât get Bellinger at their price,” the ESPN insider said on the Canadian radio broadcast. “The question is whether Bichetteâs camp eventually comes down into the Yankeesâ comfort range.”
There are other teams, as well, who are treating Bichette as their own “safety net,” however, according to Garcia.
“Swiping the Blue Jaysâ long-time shortstop could come with league-wide ramifications, as teams such as the Red Sox also have interest in him if they strike out on their top free agent target Alex Bregman,” wrote the Empire Sports Media scribe.
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