Cody Bellinger is back with the Chicago Cubs, reportedly agreeing to a three-year deal with the club. However, it wasn’t at the price tag he was hoping for.
Bellinger, who had a revitalizing season in Chicago with a .307/.356/.525 slash line last year, reportedly signed for $80 million over the three seasons.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports the contract includes two opt-outs after each of the first two years. He’ll earn $30 million in those first two seasons and $20 million in the final year of the contract. Of course, that’s if he doesn’t opt out at any point.
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Bellinger was reportedly looking for a $200 million contract, as he was coming off a solid season. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported the Cubs not wanting to meet that price, though, and no other team seemed to do so either.
Therefore, Bellinger returns to a team he was clearly comfortable with last season, and if he wants to test the market again over the next two years, the Cubs are giving him the ability to do so.
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It’s not uncommon for a Scott Boras-led player to take a deal like this. Carlos Correa did it before the 2022 season when he signed his three-year, $105 million pact with the Minnesota Twins after no other long-term deal was on the table. He ended up opting out after his first season but returned to the Twins on a six-year deal worth $200 million.
Bellinger, who was named Comeback Player of the Year in 2023, is hoping for the same result if he can replicate his numbers this season. The previous two campaigns for the outfielder were a disaster following a shoulder injury that came during the COVID-shortened 2020 season where his Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series.
He hit an abysmal .165 in 2021 over 95 games, and couldn’t get much going in 2022 either, slashing .210/.265/.389 with 19 homers and 68 RBI. He also struck out 150 times that season.
Bellinger cut his strikeout rate to 15.7% last season, down from 27.3%, and he cashed in 97 RBI, which is the highest mark he’s had since his 115-RBI All-Star season in 2019.
So, Bellinger made $5 million after opting out of his $25 million deal with the Cubs that was in place in his previous deal. But perhaps that major payday will come depending on how he performs for a team that remains patient on the free agent market that still includes left-hander Blake Snell, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, Matt Chapman and Jordan Montgomery, to name a few.
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