The Yankees may not love every wrinkle in Cody Bellinger’s contract, but compared with what the Dodgers handed Kyle Tucker, New York came out looking a lot smarter.
Bellinger’s deal includes opt-outs that pushed more of the guaranteed money to the front, and it could still leave the Yankees carrying a heavy salary for a player who isn’t in superstar territory as he ages into his mid-30s. Even so, that’s a far more manageable problem than the one Los Angeles created with Tucker’s four-year, $240 million contract.
The Dodgers got a close-up look at Tucker when the Yankees hosted them in the Bronx from July 17-July 19, and the early returns were rough. Tucker went 2-for-13 in the series with two strikeouts and grounded into two double plays. Through July 19, he was hitting .240/.335/.367, good for a 98 wRC+.
However you slice the average annual value, Tucker’s contract sits at or near the top of the list in MLB history. It also includes opt-outs after years two and three, though right now it looks far more likely he stays put and gives Los Angeles a brutal return on that investment.
There had been talk that the Dodgers were interested in bringing Bellinger back, the outfielder who won the 2017 NL Rookie of the Year and 2019 NL MVP with them before his run in Los Angeles ended with a non-tender after the 2022 season. That reunion never happened, and the Yankees wound up landing him instead.
Bellinger did speak with the Dodgers during free agency this past offseason, and his goal was to sign with a team that gave him the best chance to get back to the World Series. On the surface, that might have sounded like Los Angeles. In the end, though, he chose the Bronx.
The simplest explanation is money. Bellinger wanted a shot at a title, but he was not going to take a major discount to get it.
Tucker signed with Los Angeles before Bellinger returned to New York, and the Yankees’ offer to the left fielder was already widely known in broad terms. That gave Bellinger a clear benchmark, and the Dodgers apparently did not top it.
So Los Angeles pivoted to Tucker, a move that now looks increasingly expensive and increasingly shaky. The team has even had national media pieces trying to frame Tucker as a grinder for taking extra batting practice to work out of his slump. But for a player making $60 million a year, that kind of effort is the baseline.
Bellinger isn’t a perfect answer and he’ll have his cold stretches. Still, the contract looks like the better bet, especially once the money is factored in. He understood what the Yankees were offering, and that may have been enough to keep him out of Los Angeles and push the Dodgers into a deal they could end up regretting.
In Other News...
Rockies Fans Wont Believe The Trade Idea Involving Hunter Goodman
A speculative deadline idea has the Yankees looking at the catching market in a big way, with the conversation centered on a player who has given Colorado plenty of reason to listen. The appeal is easy to see from New Yorks side: a controllable bat at a premium position, plus the kind of production that makes front offices at least run the numbers when the trade deadline comes around.
The wrinkle is the price, and it is the sort of proposal that reminds everyone these are only ideas until somebody actually says yes. Bleacher Reports Zachary D. Rymer floated the concept as a 2026 deadline discussion, leaning on the players long club control and strong offensive output as the justification, but for now it remains exactly what it sounds like, a hypothetical that would ask a lot of both sides before anything real could happen. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees May Have One Bold Infield Fix They Usually Avoid
The Yankees are still sorting through their infield picture, and the search has naturally drifted toward shortstop and third base. One name worth watching is Zach Neto, whose bat has made him one of the more intriguing young infielders available if the Angels decide to listen on trade talks. For a Yankees club trying to balance immediate help with a longer-range plan, that kind of profile at least belongs on the board.
Netos appeal is obvious on offense, but his fit in New York would come down to how the Yankees view the rest of the diamond. The organization has prospects it wants to keep moving, including George Lombard Jr., and any serious pursuit would have to account for where everyone lands in the long run. That is where this gets interesting for the Yankees, because the idea is less about finding a pure shortstop solution and more about whether they are willing to make a bolder infield adjustment than they usually prefer. [Read more 🡒]
Juan Soto Just Became Another Mets Problem Yankees Fans Saw Coming
Juan Sotos latest setback is the kind of development Yankees fans have been bracing for ever since he crossed town, because even when the bat is still the centerpiece, the durability questions never really go away. The Mets announced the outfielder was headed to the injured list after he had been dealing with calf discomfort for about a week, and the issue finally caught up with him when he had to leave a recent game.
For a Mets club trying to keep its lineup intact as the trade deadline approaches, losing Soto changes the whole shape of the outfield picture. With no clear timeline yet, the burden shifts to the next wave of options around him, and it is another reminder that the margin for error gets thin fast when one of the lineups most important names is unavailable. [Read more 🡒]