One thing is objectively true; the New York Yankees five-year $160 million offer with two opt-outs and a big signing bonus is more than fair for Cody Bellinger.
Scott Boras might be harming his client’s statistics for the upcoming season if he waits too long, but that point has yet to be reached as things stand today on January 20th.
With the Mets and Blue Jays striking out on Kyle Tucker, there’s a bit more unease regarding whether we’ll see Bellinger in the Bronx or not, but this is an issue that Bellinger & Boras are not responsible for.
For better or for worse, the Yankees tied their offseason to Cody Bellinger’s decision, and with any and all plausible pivots for this roster off the board, they’ve put themselves in do-or-die for his services.
He’s made his price clear, regardless of how irrational it is, and until the Yankees show a willingness to actually move on before he signs, Scott Boras will keep holding out.
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Why the Yankees’ Cody Bellinger Plan Was Ill-Advised From the Start
When I attended the Covenant House SleepOut Event, what took me for a bit of a surprise was how candid GM Brian Cashman was about the team’s desire to sign Cody Bellinger.
This very-forward approach indicates what the organization thinks of him; they fell in love with the player and their actions all winter back up the reporting that he was their no. 1 priority.
You can look at their incredibly player-friendly five-year $160 million offer and wonder how the organization hasn’t gotten a resounding yes while also acknowledging that Bellinger has more leverage than people initially believed.
It’s not wrong for the Yankees to gamble on losing him to the market if someone else offers a deal more appealing than five years at $160 million with a signing bonus and two opt outs, it is wrong to do it without a backup plan.
It’s fair to say that Kyle Tucker would have taken four years at $240 million from the Dodgers over whatever the Yankees were going to offer, even if they matched or slightly exceeded that offer.
That being said, other players such as Alex Bregman, Ranger Suarez, Edwin Diaz, and Bo Bichette would have been logical fits for the team with some reshuffling to the roster.
None of them are perfect investments (particularly Bregman), but their complete lack of interest in any of these players have given Scott Boras the assurance he needs to keep this negotiation alive as long as he needs to.
One possible scenario is signing with the Mets on a short-term high AAV contract and if that occurs it would mean that for two consecutive offseasons the Yankees lost out on their top free agent target to the Mets.
I’m not trying to tell you that Cody Bellinger’s current contract offer isn’t a good one for the player, I’ve referred to this as the most aggressive and desperate attempt the team has made to retain a non-elite hitter.
The issue I take with all of this is the public posturing from the Yankees regarding how they’re being so aggressive and Boras is being so unfair when any agent worth anything would also haggle for more from a team who had no alternative.
Where is Hal Steinbrenner spending his money if not on Bellinger? What is the fan reaction (just or not) going to be if their highest-paid free agent of this class is Trent Grisham?
If you have the stance that I generally have which is that the team has over-extended itself to retain Cody Bellinger, you shouldn’t simultaneously adopt the stance that the team should be okay being an ~86 win squad in the American League.
All of the messaging this offseason was about how important he was to this team, something you wouldn’t say if you believed that production could be replaced with a platoon outfielder and a niche reliever.