The Yankees and Cody Bellinger are going to reunite on a new deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Boras Corporation client gets a five-year deal worth $162.5MM, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. There are no deferrals, per Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. Bellinger can opt out after the second and third season, per Passan, who adds that there’s a $20MM signing bonus and full no-trade clause. Bellinger gets $32.5MM in each of the first two seasons, per Nightengale. He’ll then get $25.8MM in 2028 and 2029 and then $25.9MM in 2030, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The opt-outs will be pushed by a year if the 2027 season is wiped out by a lockout, per Nightengale. The Yanks currently have a 40-man vacancy and won’t need to make a corresponding move unless they fill that spot before this agreement becomes official.
It always seemed like a good bet that Bellinger would return to the Yankees, since their first season together was a success. But there was a standoff recently, as the club and Bellinger’s camp had a bit of a gap. It was reported earlier this month that the Yankees had an offer out to Bellinger. No details on that offer were revealed but it was reported a few days later that they had made a second offer.
Subsequent reporting on the negotiations suggested the Yanks had put forth a five-year offer worth more than $150MM, but with Bellinger’s camp hoping to get the length pushed to seven years. That gap seemingly put things on ice for a moment, with alternative paths available to both parties. The Yankees showed interest in other players, including outfielder Luis Robert Jr., while Bellinger still had potential fits with teams like the Dodgers and Mets.
But the market has changed quite a bit in the past week. The Dodgers and Mets got into a bidding war over Kyle Tucker, with the Dodgers coming out on top. The Mets then pivoted to signing Bo Bichette to bolster their infield, followed by trading infielder Luisangel Acuña to the White Sox as part of their package to land Robert.
Those moves took away some alternate paths from the Yankees but also removed a couple of logical landing spots for Bellinger. The Yanks seemingly didn’t budge far from where their reported offer was a few weeks ago, though they did add the opt-outs. It was reported a few days ago that they were willing to include those.
Though Bellinger and Boras didn’t quite get the seven years they were looking for, the deal comes in fairly close to expectations from the beginning of the offseason. For instance, MLBTR predicted Bellinger to land a guarantee of $140MM over five years. Bellinger has secured himself a floor just above that. There’s also a path to boosting his future earnings again with more opt-out opportunities down the line.
He is now 30, turning 31 in July, so he will be 32 years old by the end of the 2027 season. Alex Bregman and Kyle Schwarber both just got five-year deals this offseason, with Schwarber going into his age-33 season and Bregman age-32. Schwarber got a $150MM guarantee and Bregman $175MM, though Bregman’s deals had deferrals which pushed the net present value pretty close to Schwarber’s guarantee.
For Bellinger, he can bank $85MM over the next two years, when factoring in the signing bonus and the front-loaded salaries. When his first opt-out decision comes around, he would still have three years and $77.5MM left on this deal. If he continues to be a productive player between now and then, he should be in a good position to opt out.
More to come.
We knew this was gonna happen
This was a fair deal and exactly what many of us expected.
Both sides needed the other.
No reason not to take some time to get it right.
ONLY if and when Mets went elsewhere for a CFer.
Belli is not really a center fielder though…once in awhile, sure.
He’s an excellent 1st baseman though, at least he was for the dodgers
The deal is structured so he’s almost guaranteed to walk after year two since it’s front loaded. That actually might better for the Yankees.
Yeah but why did it take this long?
Because options are a thing. Bellinger had options, which increased his leverage. His current options are limited, so he took the deal.
I don’t think he had near as many options as you think. Outside of Yankees Stadium his numbers are basically about average. At home is where his numbers jumped. Every team knew that.
The Mets and possibly the Jays were options that could afford him. Mets went with Roberts, and spring training is around the corner. They held out long enough to get everything they could from the Yankees.
The rumors were he was only getting offered 3 years and the money was a little lower on the yearly pay. He was targeting long term like Tucker. I suspect when the Yankees went to 5 and added the opt outs they had met in the middle.
No surprise. Wonder what the opt out is.
That he can opt out
What else you looking for?
Clearly he’s asking after which year the opt out is, or if there are multiple opt outs. Article has been updated since his post.
Opt outs, of course.
So they’re bringing back most of their own free agents? Who else have they added this offseason?
Good for the Yanks. I’m glad Bellinger got a deal he deserved. At 30 years old with 30 career war, I think he still has a chance to make it to the Hall.
What you think he needs, 60 total war ?
Goldy, Machado, and Freeman are right around 60 right now, so I guess if all 3 get in, it seems like he would too if he doubles his war.
80?
Belli will make it to the Hall as an audience member for when Aaron Judge goes. Belli deserves this contract but he is not on a HOF trajectory himself.
2020, 2021, and 2022 dimmed his chances significantly.
I’ll take the under.
Agree. He may not even get to 50
His best offensive n defensive seasons are behind him
His only shot is longevity
Hall of Fame??? What? Four of his nine seasons have been middling to awful. His advanced stats do not even hint at a return to his highest levels. Decent player, no where near the Hall.
And his MVP season was when he knew what pitches were coming.
Make it to the Hall? Only way that happens is if he buys a ticket, same as the rest of us.
Is Jack Clark in the Hall? Bobby Bonds? Excellent player but not a HoFer, ever.
He should definitely make it into the Hall of very good.
Here we go again with this bogus HOF talk about another maybe average MLB player compared to true HOF names that belong there.
Weathers trade was pretty low cost and fills the need to have a starter until Cole and Rodon are ready.
Stop crying, Jesus Christ
run it back with the same team, but with Rodon out to start the year
Are you also saying groceries are only good if you get them at another store rather than the one closest to you?
Too much, imho, but he’s a decent player. The Yanks holding up the entire offseason for him is craaaaazy. Good news is: we are almost back to our early-exit team from last season!
Add 1 Gerrit Cole.
theonlydynasty:
Isn’t Cole not expected back before June though? And can it be totally relied upon that he’s going to be the same pitcher at this age coming off injury that he was before?
Last a saw he was expected back early may, so somewhere in the first month or so. In reality he’s not much more of an if than every other pitcher in mlb.Just hope they perform to the norm they’ve set and pray for health
theonlydynasty:
I just looked it up. Cole is expected back late May or early June. Of course that’s with no setbacks.
…and subtract whatever other pitcher gets hurt. The gap to the Dodgers has widened and the Yanks have not responded.
Not if they trade for Skubal. Rotation of Skubal,Cole,Fried,Rondon,Gill would be far better than any rotation in baseball
Not far better. The Dodgers would have Yamamoto, Snell, Sasaki, Ohtani, Ryan.
@sausage
There’s no arm race. The Yanks have choked in the WS the last two years. Health and doing your job is what’s needed. Yanks have the ally to have a very good rotation even if Cole has some rust. A healthy Freid/Rondon/Gil/Warren/Schlittler/Weathers plus what you get from Cole has the potential to be great. Hopefully Bednar and Doval can perform to their abilities and the mix of middle innings guys will be up to snuff. Having starters than can go 6 innings on the regular would help.
He has a MVP. Let’s say he retires at 40, he just needs to average out 3 war a season for 10 years to have a good chance to make it in the Hall of Fame.
The gap with the Dodgers has increased all around baseball, with no simple solution in sight. Now, the Yankees certainly could spend more given their market and I understand the frustrations of Yankees fans under the Hal era.
But the market advantages enjoyed by the Dodgers makes even a NY team anxious.
You forgot Glasnow
Chasefor28nyy:
There are teams with far better farm systems that will be going after Skubal if he’s really available. I.e. the Dodgers and the Mets.
The Yankees are not getting Skubal. Get this silly thought out of your head. The only way they get him or Skenes, or whatever pitcher is the next thing, is through free agency.
sub Schlittler for Gil. It’s even better
Astros
At the moment, don’t you think Glasnow is ahead of Sasaki and Sheehan and Stone are ahead of Ryan?
What about Schlittler?
Yankee George would’ve traded for Skubal. Hal won’t.
The Dodgers aren’t the Yankees direct competition. You have to get past Toronto and the other AL teams first.
Assuming all goes well with the Dodgers season.
Schlittler >> Gil, though
George would have also overpaid for a bunch of mediocre declining free agents. They started their dominant run in the 1990s after he was suspended and couldn’t meddle anymore. Although I agree he would have been trying his best to get Skubal for this year.
I have always had a bit of a soft spot for Belli (even when he destroyed my Friars back in the day). The AAV/NTC seems a bit much for current Belli.
@Steve
Considering that his age his $32 mil slides right in between what Alonso and Bregman signed for and far below Bichette and Tucker. Tucker is a better player but certainly not 2x the player.
Maybe it is too much, DiMaggio, but keeping him away from Toronto is well worth the overpay. He’s a great fit with the Bombers, and his swing is perfect for Yankee Stadium.
I agree it’s too much but at least they didn’t cave on the years. Hopefully Cashman has learned a lesson from the long term contracts trying to lower AAV.
at least the season will be little more entertaining now with Bellinger back on the fold. I figured this was gonna happen and it was just negotiating strategy by Boris that they were other teams that were willing to pay more with longer terms.
And besides, we’re not winning anything with Cashman and Boone anyway
@DR
Since when is either pitching or batting cleanup? Did the Yanks lose because Cole, Judge, etc wet the bed or nah? We need to start holding players accountable. This is not a team headed into the playoffs dependent on Chein-Ming Wang or Domingo Germain to lead the way. Judge and others have to do their jobs to. Only things in a little concerned on, ate lack of contingency if Wells is injured or Ryan McMahon who in not a huge fan of either but clearly we were desperate. I truly feel one clear mistake Cashman made was not valuing Caleb Durbin as a possible 3B. I’m cool with going after Williams because it was a logical move that simply didn’t end well but having a glaring need at 3b and not considering Durbin they’re when you knew we lacked depth there and might have to depend on DJ, Cabrera and Peraza for 600 PA was a bad choice. But of the team is good enough to win 95 games in the Rest then they should be good enough to win it all imo.
Belli and Grisham for the price of Tucker.
Price is fine….if Tucker is getting $57M a year, and he will benefit from Yankee Stadium more than most. Opt outs and no-trade are possibly questionable but they could also be moot, If he opts out he would have had amazing year(s) so thats fine for the Yankees.
I disagree, that’s a good deal for him. He brings versatility and pop. Really good player that fit the team. That’s only incrementally more than what was originally said at 155. Cashman did what he had too and don’t forget after year 2 if he opts out that’s money saved then.
@Yankee
Why ppl think Cashman can’t walk and chew gum at the same time is perplexing. I doubt there’s a single FA that the Yanks are serious about that they whiffed on. They may have felt th he eventual price was too crazy, which should always be the case unless you’re talking about the elite of the elite, which there weren’t any in this year’s class.
Knicks – That kinda doesn’t make sense. If “whiffing” isn’t being outbid because you thought the price was too high, then what exactly is “whiffing”?
You make it sound like the Yankees sign free agents all the time despite being outbid, that is simply not the case.
Clip,
Cashman did good not to cave in to more years. Hopefully the Yankees offseason can get moving, it’s been stopped because of Bellinger. Cody will have another great year, that stadium suits him so congrats on getting him back!
Given what Alonzo, who is subpar defensively, got from the Orioles, it’s maybe a 15% overpay for Bellinger. But the Yankees painted themselves into a corner and Boras kept on pretending that Bellinger deserved seven years.
If this was 6/165, people might not think it was an overpay, and then they’d all forget their positions when the Yankees send him away Arenado-style during year 5.
Yeah, thank God it’s over. Tired of hearing about these negotiations.
Some fans don’t really appreciate the importance of competitive September baseball. Yankees are consistently in competition in September and then fans complain about “early-exit” (which was funny btw) but don’t consider how fortunate it is to be able to stay interested in their team for an entire season and not just Nov-July like the other NY team.
Boycott the Amazin’ Mess next season!
BOOOOOOO STEARNS!!!!!
BorAss being BorAss
@aduncaroo44 Wow! You’re so clever!
By waiting an extra three weeks he got 162 instead of 155. This was the right time and the right deal.
Of course, in the middle of the Mets/Bichette presser.
If you can’t be petty then what’s the point?
Worst soap opera ever finally ends. Boras con using Mets exposed as a fraud
Does this mean $162.5M total and $20M is the signing bonus (so $32.5M AAV for his official salary) or is it $162.5M total and an annual AAV of $28.5M?
Signing bonuses count for CBT and AAV.
I think it just means he gets the money upfront.
The bonus does count toward the CBT. If it didn’t there’d be widespread abuse. Usually bonuses are given to offset state taxes.
Still won’t win to many big swings on that team and no contact hitters
So you’re saying you’d rather have Luis Arraez than Cody Bellinger?
If I’m the Yankees, I’d rather have more contact hitters to surround Judge. They have too much power. Stanton, Grisham, Jazz, Volpe, and Belli are all home run hitters. They have no one who can consistently get on base for Judge or protect him. That’s why they either score a ton or do nothing. The old Yankees never had only power hitters. When they were a dynasty, they were a smart team.
Too much power is NEVER a problem.
Worked reasonably well last year. Trip to WS indicates a good team by any measure.
Yeah, and their defense was terrible, and this year they regressed, just like Philly. Those power guys aren’t all the answers.
holy moly
Darn, he didn’t get the full billion dollars.
So he squeezed out an extra 2.5. but there’s one question. How much is deferred 😉
It says none
$162.5MM is a bit steep. Hopefully he plays well and opts out after year 2 because the back end of this deal is going to be ugly
Big Cody fan and I wish him well… but I predict this will not be a good signing for the Yankees.
Bob said what about the opt outs??
Boras magic.
Yankees saw that the White Sox were looking to add to their outfield and got scared.
Genuinely funny
Thank God that’s out the way. Our should’ve been the easiest transaction of the offseason. Now tidy up things with a couple of small signings/trades. Please keep Dominguez in the fold. He had a solid rookie year, Grisham isn’t a certainty for this season nor beyond this season and Stanton, or someone else, will likely get injured this giving him a party to everyday at bats. Keep the pitching. I have faith in Warren and Gil to them into really good pitchers. I’m excited to see what good coaching, good health and perhaps mentoring from Max Freid might do to get the best out of Weathers. Valdez? Maybe a guy like Robertson for mid innings? Let’s go! Blue Jays made a lot of moves but I’m not scared of Cease, Ponce and they’ve lost Bichette. I’m a little concerned about the Ted Sox pitching but they lost Bregman. We can still dominate the East and let’s try to slay Goliath in the world series.
Um, the Yankees are David in this scenario? No. Just no. The Yankees are just a less efficient Goliath. Get back to us after you root for the Rockies or A’s for a year.
BREGMAN…best baseball player contract manipulator? Got over $40M AAV from Red Sox for history of sub-par defense, who’s only amassed 100 RBI twice.
“Alex Bregman, Who Drew a Jewish Star on His Cap After Oct. 7, Inks $175M Deal With the Cubs”
Uh yeah Yankees are definitely GOLIATH and have always been even before the Dodgers have become the pay-whatever-it-takes to get every top-tier player for their fans who don’t even show up to the game until the 4th inning and leave after the 7th.
Bregman is no loss to the Red Sox. Post injury Stats:
.244 average, 7 HR, and 29 RBIs in 258 at-bats.
We did it, gang, we beat the Boras and got our guy. And at the least have him for 2 years before any opt out shenanigans.
Fantastic! Stoked.
Now go get a little bullpen help please.
BEST COMMENT OF THE BUNCH: “beat the Boras”
A win all its own!
Has a swing made for the Stadium, as he has proven. Belli Bomb should be a Yankee.
Putz…
That would buy a fair bit of weed…
Yankees had to find a way to get this done.
Now, all they have to do is keep him away from over-exuberant high-fives ….
Going to be another huge battle to win the AL East this year!
Basically, nobody else wanted him enough to lure him away from the Yanks. Those home/road splits scared every other team. So this reunion was very predictable.
That said, Bellinger has shown the ability to take advantage of Yankee Stadium, and real wins will result from that ability.
Great Yankees great! Bellinger, you finally saw sense!
Now go trade Dominguez/Jones,Schlittler,and another high prospect or two for Skubal off-season would be perfect. Don’t let the Dodgers trade for him.
This was probably one of the most expected moves of free agency. Know the most of the top FA’s are off the board, we are accelerating. The Yankees become so much better and Bellinger became even richer. Good for the Yankees, they have a better chance with Bellinger.
This was always the deal he deserved. He earned this deal- no more, no less. It’s a fair total, it’s a fair AAV, I think those opt outs are concessions for his ego and deep down he’s gotta know he is not going to beat this deal or at best, if the first three years go really well, the Yankees might tack on 1 year/$35.5M or something.
Fair? Think about your job and consider that word you just used…”FAIR”… Let’s say you are an ultra-performer at your company and they reward you with a $100K guaranteed salary for 5 years at the company. Then a few years later all these people who do less work than you and call in sick more than you do get guaranteed salaries for $130k-$150k per year. The inflation in baseball is off the charts!!
162.5 m for a dude w a 105 wRC+ the last 5 years and a 112 ops+ zips projection
Yiiiiiiiiiikes
Can anybody even explain how to calculate ops+ zips or even what the average is? These useless stats nowadays are just as pointless as the number below the words “SPEED LIMIT” in Florida.
Another insane overpay
The future holds increased ticket prices, higher MLB.TV sub cost, and insane money shelled out at stadiums for disgusting cold food. Just drink beer and go to 1 game a year now. Then the following season will be another fan-diminishing player vs. ownership public battle. They were on to something good with speeding up the game, but it’s about to come crashing down.
And the inevitable becomes inevitable
Yankees had zero negotiating leverage. They didn’t get any other big free agent hitters.
The good old days of the Yankees buying all the most expensive free agents are dead. Just like Yankee George.
I knew this was gonna happen when the Mets traded for Luis Robert Jr.
The writing was on the wall
I think it was likely the Mess traded for 110-game maximum Luis because they knew Bellinger was making the correct decision.
Yesssssss! The beginning of a good offseason. Now let’s make some more moves.
What other moves? The offseason is practically over, unless you want framber, giolito, gallen, or Eugenio
Sensible deal. Yanks still have a good floor offensively with Judge, Stanton (if healthy), Jazz, Belli, and Rice. Curious to see if Wells, Volpe, and Jasson can take steps forward. McMahon provides the defensive value at 3B as does Grish in CF.
Dominguez and Spencer Jones are the big question marks in terms of still having ceilings you can dream on. And the rotation has great depth especially when Cole, Rodon, and Schmidt return, so the team is still in good (but not perfect) shape.
Our long national nightmare has come to an end….
“there’s a $20MM signing bonus and full no-trade clause. Bellinger gets $32.5MM in each of the first two seasons,”
Im not sure which way this reads:
Is the total value $42.5M per season or $32.5M per season?
Signing bonuses are included in the total contact, they just structure it this way so players get paid if there is a lockout or other reasons (current value vs future value?). There are lots of shenanigans with regards to this but this one is pretty normal.
I’d really like to know honestly who else was ramping up their bidding for this guy. There might’ve been some other teams in somewhat but I seriously doubt it was this kind of money coming from other teams. Yankees sometimes bid against themselves.
Jays need a bat (none left now), Mets possibly pre-Luis Roberts trade. Thats about it.
what might have happened is that Boras read the market, realized he wasn’t getting more than 5, took what was on the table with a little sweetener, and Cashman didn;t want to backtrack on what he previously discussed
Kudos to the Yankees for not being bullied by Boras. Market was never at 7 for Belli. Mets trade made this happen.
Truly a blessing in disguise for Bellinger. Signing with the Mess would have been a terrible regret.
Good for Belli and the Yanks. Not sure I understand the negativity on bringing back the same guys when they were the best offense in baseball.
There’s usually some hostility to Boras-reppped players, and he’s getting a lot of money and more years than his potential performance probably merits. The contract does have the possibility of going DJM way.
Absolutely. You’ll always have to spend more than what market value indicates to get the top free agents though. I don’t see him falling off a cliff like DJM when you factor in his defense but certainly in the realm of possibilities.
Half of his 30war comes from 3 good years. Don’t over think it people, of his career war projection
Mets made a mistake trading for Robert instead of this guy.
but their the Mets- its a Mets thing!
Bo was the mistake as was Polanco, Bellinger would have filled a need at possibly 2 positions.
I like the player, concerned at his volatile career, we may be in for a down season. Thing i do not like is that it blocks Jasson and Jones.
Is Andruw Jones making a comeback? haha I don’t think he’d be eligible for the HoF then…
Won’t block the Martian. Will mean Spencer Jones has to play every day at Triple-A Scranton with orders to cut down on his strikeouts.
BuT tHe DoDgErS aRe RuInInG bAsEbAlL!!!!
You’re telling someone got signed and Passan and the collective baseball world is not blaming us for the signing taking so long to happen, for structure of his contract, and yada yada yada?!??!
Crazy….
TOLD YA SO! Bellinger made the best Bellinger move for Bellinger the human, not necessarily Bellinger the bank account and agent commissions. He must have read my posts…smart man. All you posters take note haha. Maybe I should become a sports agent…hmm…
Signing with the Amazin’ Mess would have been a horrible regret. I could see it with my future-predicting-mind’s-eye. Now he likely won’t have to become a member of the 2026 Stearns-started support group for Rich Victims of Booing.
The worst thing in baseball isn’t the Dodgers. It’s opt outs. It gives the players too much power
It is funny
Hey, if I stink next year I’ll take your millions
If I’m remotely decent I’ll leave you and see what better offer I can get
The worst thing in baseball isn’t the Dodgers or opt outs.
It’s ownerships who don’t prioritize Championships.
Happy to have him back and also happy to see they didn’t go beyond the 5 years.
I think we still need another RH bat off the bench to pair with Rosario when dealing with a tough lefty. Rosario platoons with McMahon but we don’t really have anyone to platoon with Grisham or Domínguez. Bellinger actually hit well against LHP last year, but having a RH OF on the bench can’t hurt. Honestly, the team is so lefty heavy, tough lefties may prove to be a pain.
Another 1-2 bullpen pieces would be nice too. I think they go into the season with the current rotation and rely on Weathers, Warren and Yarbrough to round out the rotation until Rodon and Cole are back. Probably have those 3 plus Gil fighting for the 3 spots after Fried and Schlittler.
well that’s 10 free agents picked correctly. Might not be tops, but it’s my personal best
This is a great fit for both sides. As a Mets fan it would have been nice but Bellinger is where he needs to be.
talking HofF for Belli???? Remember how sport writers were talking about kris Bryant HofF trojectory after only 2+ years in the league?? How did that play out??
Won’t age well. This is an overpay.
So name a high profile player signing for a contract that isn’t an overpay over the last 3-5 years……he’s 31 and if he stays will be 36….not exactly the old age home and he may still provide better than average offense/defense…..
Alas!
Wow! Huge overpay by the Yankees. I say that as a big fan of Bellinger. I may hate the Yankees but I am happy to admit when they make a good signing. Bellinger getting more than Alonso is just the Yankees admitting they had no other options.
Good for Belly.
And if they chose not to re-sign him and offered a substantially lower AAV and years contract, exactly who could have been had otherwise……or do you put all your chips in the middle and hope Jones/Martian is the answer in left…and hope that Rice doesn’t get hurt at 1st…..his signing gives Judge DH days, plays the corners at GG levels, can play Center and 1B at better than league average,…that’s called versatility…..
Let’s get Saurez to play 3rd. I know his glove isn’t great but he’d be a big bat in the lineup
The Yankees already have a capable 3B in McDonough.
$162.5M/5 years. Lop off the extra half million and that’s a clean 200K per game, 162 games per season, over 5 seasons. Not bad work if you can get it.
The amount of money some of these players are getting is ridiculous.
Once Robert was traded to the Mets, the writing was on the wall that no one was going to give Bellinger 7 years or beat the Yankees’ offer.
The good news is the Yankees have some young potential. If Schlittler, Gil, Rice and Dominquez show improvement they are better off than last year. Schlittler is really the key because it could give the Yankees two excellent starters at the top of the rotation. Rodon is back to his now you see me and now you don’t health. The question is will Cole be more like Bradish last year in his return from surgery or like Stryder.
The bad news is team defense is still a big question mark and the division as a hole improved across the board. .
Bullpens change year to year and the Yankees have a bunch of minor league arms they can call up and groom.
Also, you speak as if lineups of other foes like the Jays for example will perform exactly the same this year as last year when they got career years out of players like Clement and Barger….and they also have been actively trying to get another closer they feel so good about their bullpen….
My point is that;s why you play the games instead of anointing the WS trophy based on paper of past performance….The Yankees have as good a chance at achieving their past years performance as any team in the East….
The Yanks are ruining baseball!!