Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on throughout the day:
1. Bellinger, Yankees negotiations continue:
The Yankees and outfielder Cody Bellinger were recently reported to be at an impasse in contract negotiations. Both sides are interested in a reunion, but Bellinger has interest from other clubs, including the Mets and Dodgers. (The Angels, Phillies and Giants all at least checked in earlier in the offseason as well.) The Yankees have reportedly explored alternatives to Bellinger ranging from free agents like Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker to trade candidates like Luis Robert Jr. and Nico Hoerner.
While contract length seems to be a sticking point, with Bellinger seeking a longer deal than the Yankees’ five-year offer, New York is reportedly open to bridging the gap by including opt-outs. If structured favorably, that could allow Bellinger to bank significant money over the next couple of years before returning to free agency at a later date. That’s the tactic he ended up taking during his last trip through free agency, when he sought a massive contract but ultimately settled for three years and $80MM from the Cubs.
2. What’s left on the relief market?
The Reds’ weekend deal with right-hander Pierce Johnson took yet another name off the board on a dwindling relief market. For other teams looking to bolster their bullpen, the options are waning. Seranthony Dominguez is among the top names still on the market, and he’s garnered some recent interest from the Twins. Michael Kopech, Jorge Lopez, Jose Leclerc, Paul Sewald, and Tommy Kahnle all remain available as well, but each comes with warts due to some combination of recent injury history and poor results. Lefties Taylor Rogers and Danny Coulombe remain available as interesting options and could be particularly valuable to a team without a quality southpaw for the late innings. Virtually every team could stand to improve its bullpen, but the Twins are joined by the Nationals, Diamondbacks, and Rangers as teams that appear to have a particularly significant need in their relief corps at this point.
3. MLBTR chat today:
Pitchers and catchers will begin reporting in mid-February, but plenty of questions about this offseason remain. Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, and Framber Valdez are among the top-flight free agents still available, while the trade market holds intriguing talents like Freddy Peralta and Brendan Donovan who could still be moved. If you’re wondering what’s left for your favorite team to do before pitchers and catchers report or simply looking for the latest hot stove buzz, MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered with a live chat scheduled for 1pm CT today. Readers can use this link to ask a question in advance, follow along when the chat begins, and read the transcript after the chat concludes.
Jorge Lopez, Jose Leclerc, Paul Sewald, and Tommy Kahnle
Not a very inspiring group
Relief market has been picked apart and everything else is still available.
“While contract length seems to be a sticking point”.
Money is the sticking point
Do you think Bellinger would sign for 7/$150? He doesn’t care about years as much as he cares about the extra $45 million (PV) those extra two years will get him.
It’s amazing how many people don’t get your point, as obvious and simple as it is. Bellinger is interested in getting the highest guarantee possible. ‘Years’ are only important to the player to jack up the guaranteed amount, and sometimes offer the club a lower AAV if they have tax considerations. Otherwise ‘years’ are irrelevant. Do they think the player is worried about having something to do in 2032?
@Best
Common sense should say that no one is going to give him $40 mil per. That being understood he’s trying to get someone to give him a 6th or 7th year at $30 mil. Since to say length doesn’t matter is incorrect when getting the higher AAV isn’t possible? It’s like a really hot model choosing the guy who’s lacking in one way but makes a lot of money and drives a hot car. Make up for the deficiency in one area by over-compensating in another. 😄
Well, he ain’t getting it. Yankees offered a higher per year, and if Bellinger thinks he’ll still be a great hitter in 6-7 years, he can go out and get another contract for those millions.
That’s the point of offering a higher amount for less years, you don’t get ALL of it. Contracts have to help both sides.
Team Cody Bellinger continues to negotiate with clubs through MLBTR, telling clubs that the Yankees are prepared to offer all sorts of generous things that they should think about matching. This isn’t reporting or sharing information – it’s plainly strategic and unsubstantiated gossip, designed to benefit the player and his agent.
If we all pitch in a couple bucks we could sign him ourselves, and not hear anymore gossip.
No team will give Bellinger a 7 year deal. Boras is famous for pitting a team to bid against its self. The Yankees should say finale offer is 5@155 and say this deal goes away if you turn it down because I don’t think he gets any better offer from any other team
Especially bc he isn’t the big fish left. He’s probably the 4 or 5th best player (3rd best hitter) left and teams are nearing their budgets with only a few teams left that can spend. It’s probably the Yankees offer or another pillow contract.
@scissor
Wrong evaluation. He’s the 2nd best OF option and when the other option might be a riskier 10/$400 mil ask, that for some, might be more preferable for teams more risk adverse to a 10 year deal vs a 5.
I don’t think tucker is getting 10/400 either. i think tuckers looking at 7/250ish, maybe 8/280 tops.
@Dodger
He may not but this site predicted 11/$400 so I’m just using that.
That makes sense until Boras threatens to sue over “collusion.”
The problem is that collusion is confused with common sense.
If the Yankees, Red Sox or whomever don’t fe Bellinger is worth 7/226, it doesn’t matter what Boras touts.
*don’t feel
The Yankees are bidding against themselves. The Mets and Dodgers are the boogeyman in this case, they aren’t going to offer more than what the Yankees are offering.
Agreed. You can bet teams are looking at the 241/301/414 Bellinger hit on the road last year and are not interested even in the amount the Yankees have offered.
Really a team that doesn’t play in Yankee stadium could trade for Nathan Lukes and pay league minimum for that kind of production.
@Ducey
A) Your assumption is that Beli can’t hit a homer longer than 315 to RF. B) Your assumption is that no other stadium has a RF wall that’s under 330 ft. C) The average mlb homer is 390 to 400 feet. Clearly NYS is a for for him but so is the fact that he destroyed LHP to a 1.000+ OPS last year which was +.250 higher in 2025 than it was for 2024 and for his career. Last.year was the perfect confluence of a wall favorable to lefties, an increased ability to crush LHP and psychologically, making a concerted effort to pull the ball all the time trying to clear the wall. But it doesn’t mean those homers were barely 315 ft flyballs that would’ve been pop ups in other stadiums. I’m sure he’s been a dead pull hitter in other years where he’s played at least 130 games a day had at least 25+ homers (4/6 seasons).
No assumption. Just the facts. He was plain average in 1/2 his games. Any other team that will be the vast majority of their games. Not worth paying huge bucks for that.
@Ducey
Again, ppl are acting like he’s hitting 315 ft wall scrapers and not upper deck shots. NYS isn’t the only stadium that a 340+ ft homer would clear. Batting average and OBP 60+ higher at home or crushing LHP to the tune of a .350/.415/.600 slash aren’t exactly explained by a stadium. And let’s not act like he hasn’t had a few other years of big home run production too.
I am wondering if the Mets interest is current or they just keep pounding it in that they are looming through Heyman.
I have a feeling they moved on to non-Boras clients sometime in December. That’s why it’s the same writers trying to force deals for them…Framber, Skubal, Peralta, Cabrera.
Agreed. Give a 24 hour take it or leave it.
The Orioles really need another solid lefty in the pen, so hopefully we can snag one of Rogers or Coulombe, or maybe trade for Romero from the Cards.
I doubt that Bellinger will sign before Tucker. Say what you want about the dude, but Boras is smart. He knows that whichever of the big-market teams that lose out on Tucker will be likely to jump in on Bellinger. If the Yankees really want the guy they should go a little beyond their comfort zone and basically meet Boras’ ask right now. Dicking around over a year or two and maybe $20M is silly… those are relatively small numbers.
It seems like the Jays are the only team willing to give tucker a long term deal and the rest of the teams are short higher AAV as fall backs for him. It’ll be a 8 year $288M ($300 guaranteed) deal with a $12M buyout on a team option or 3 years $120M with opt outs.
Cashman isn’t an idiot and I’m pretty sure by now he knows exactly what he’s dealing with in terms of Boras clients.
But for everyone saying they are bidding against themselves, I give you Bregman signing with the Cubs. The Red Sox indeed thought they were getting him and so stood by their offer and waited for an acceptance that did not come.
So yeah, very easy to say that, but clearly the team values and wants Bellinger and them going this extra half mile is in their best interest. Ultimately the opt outs might not mean much to him if what he wants is years, but still I get it.
I think Cashman is in control of the negotiations at this point. He probably gets a deal done sooner rather than later.
I think so too, but I wouldn’t it past Boras to get him a deal elsewhere even after all of the work done here. It’s how he operates and I get it, but also why I get that GM’s don’t like him. Lots of wasted time and energy.
The closest team that might swoop in and offer is probably the Mets and I’m not sure they give Bellinger more 5 years, so I’m thinking Cashman might win the staring contest on this one. Hopefully Bellinger sees how much more beneficial his bat plays in Yankee Stadium and he works something out.
I think the Mets are out at 3 or 4 years for Bellinger.
Boras will give the Yankees a chance to match another team’s offer. Him and Cashman have a good working relationship as we saw with Cole’s initial signing and then his opt-out which could’ve gone ugly.
Bregman got a 5 year deal. A 7 year isn’t happening
MLBTR is an aggregator of news with analyses.
Not sure why everyone jumps on them.
The real folks spreading non-news are agents not liking their market. Heyman being the most obvious.
Would love the Mets to sign Kopech. Then they might not have to focus so hard on a starting pitcher.
The Yankees are stress-testing whether short-term flexibility has officially replaced long-term star contracts.
The Bellinger opt-outs need to make sense for the Yankees because giving the guy up front a $150M+ guarantee with a big opt-out after year’s one and two do nothing for NY. All the risk–of underperformance, of injury, is on the Yankees. No one knows what the 2027 CBA bargaining will look like, how much of the season could be lost, or what monetary constraints for future years will be negotiated. Simple is better here.
And, just to make an obvious point, Bellinger is not a top tier talent, He’s a good player with a pronounced home/away split. If he plays next year in another stadium, he’s not producing like he did in 2025.
That’s how it always work though. The yanks are competing against other teams and sometimes you gotta roll the dice if he’s your guy.
It’s a fair point, but bidding against yourself is foolish, especially since every other team can look at his home and away splits and ask themselves what they are buying, He’s ordinary out of Yankee Stadium. If he/Boras plan to spin the wheel of fortune again, they have to be mindful of it. Judge, BTW, has virtually no H/A split in 2025.
@Mike
You act like home road splits aren’t common? Of course he’s not Judge and he won’t get paid like Judge. Beli had hit 30+ homers before so let’s not act like he would be a 10 homer guy elsewhere. But obviously NYS is a pave he can thrive in especially as a lefty pull hitter that learned to smash lefties this year. That’s actually a slight concern to me. Is THAT the outlier that’s more relevant than the park?
@Mike
Boras walks in the room today and says “We want 2/$70 mil or we walk” I guarantee you Cashman will run like Tom Cruise, in any of his movies, to get Hal’s signature on the dotted line. So what are we talking about here? Teams would gladly sign players to short opts outs. It’s the base case scenario. What’s the alt? Being locked into a guy regardless of what happens? If they could’ve gotten Soto to agree to a whopping 5/$300 mil they likely would’ve preferred that vs 14-15/$750 mil they allegedly offered.
Oh good, another day of Yankees this, Bellinger that. Just as bad as the Red Sox and Bregman. Spit or get off the pot. This is so ridiculous.
I’d love it if Bellinger & Suarez signed with the Dodgers.
THREE-PEAT!!!
Part of the problem is that Tucker is PERCEIVED as the best FA, but he is not as good as his reputation. He’s good in some ways, but not a difference-maker in a lineup. So I suspect teams don’t want to go long-term with him, and his agent is holding out for long-term, so things are stuck.
I don’t know if Bregman will end up bring worth his contract, but the Cubs did well to at least avoid the logjam.
I agree, I see Tucker as a complementary piece in a really good lineup. But I will say that if he is the best FA, this year’s class is not super impressive.
Throw in Bichette too!!!
DODGERS!!!
Trade Snell & Glasnow for prospects.
Unrelated but pending any legal proceedings that haven’t happened yet, I have to renew my driver’s license in seven years.
Using that as a measuring stick, I am of the belief that Bellinger should have to negotiate again before I have to go get another one
But Bellinger can drive the ball. Oh, never mind.
Baseball is not to be taken seriously.
Real men do not need opt outs. Sign a contract and show a commitment…
Bellinger is crazy if he thinks he can get anything other than a 5 year deal. His career has been up and down for the last several years.
Just let Spencer Jones play, strikeouts and all.
I think the Yankees played this smart, actually, by revealing the opt outs Bellinger would get, they have basically shamed him into resigning with them because it makes no sense for him to go elsewhere, other than stubbornness, and ego. No evidence of better offers out there for him. So the inevitable.” this is where I always wanted to be!” press, conference statement is coming with Cashman and Hal trying desperately not to roll their eyes as Belinger says it.
Some other minor news that I saw was the Blue Jays released Rodolfo Castro from his minor league deal and he may be headed to Asia.
Love Bellinger, but he isn’t anywhere near the hitter Tucker is based on OPS, where even w/the favorable stadium (and it was VERY favorable), Bellinger had a 125 OPS+ in 2025 above his 120 lifetime average, whereas Tucker has an OPS+ of 143 last year, a down year for him as he was hurt the second half, but still above his lifetime average of 140.
Tucker is also left-handed, I would imagine he puts up a 150-170 as a Yankee.
Bellinger is the better fielder, but Tucker is fine in RF, and age is going to be a factor here (Tucker is 1 and a half years younger).
For me, this looks like a no-brainer.
Bellinger is suspect as a hitter, average on the road.
Tucker is brilliant as a hitter, who might put up monster numbers if playing half his games as a Yankee.
I’m not a NY fan, but I can’t understand why they aren’t going hard after Tucker – it feels like they are stuck on Bellinger despite the red and yellow flags.
Why the hell are the Yankees offering opt outs and a signing bonus as per Jon Heyman on Sirius XM? Cody’s market is small and it’s obvious he has no other 5 year offers.