Dodgers Rumors: Continued Cody Bellinger interest aligns with Teoscar Hernandez buzz

The Los Angeles Dodgers are reportedly considering a reunion with Cody Bellinger in free agency. According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, both New York clubs, as well as the Philadelphia Phillies and Dodgers, are interested in Belli, who won a National League MVP trophy wearing a Dodgers uniform in 2019.

LA’s Bellinger interest aligns with recent Teoscar Hernández trade buzz flowing from the editorial desks of The Athletic. While some Dodgers observers are surprised by the Teoscar noise, others wouldn’t mind moving on from his declining defense in pursuit of a three-peat.

Signing Cody Bellinger would pair well with Dodgers trading Teoscar Hernández, so it's no surprise that both moves are rumored

Bellinger would inject the Dodgers with the utmost versatility defensively, capable of manning all three outfield positions with grace and also filling in for an aging Freddie Freeman at first base when necessary. The defensive fit is obvious, and Belli’s bat looked reinvigorated in 2025 in the Bronx, with 29 home runs and 98 RBI to show for it.

If a Bellinger return comes to pass, it’ll be the second time in eight years that the Dodgers will have called upon Cody to salvage an imperfect outfield situation. The first occasion came on April 25, 2017, also known as Bellinger’s MLB debut.

At that pre-dynasty time, LA had just lost Joc Pederson to injury and thus promoted the rising young talent Bellinger, whose bat had been marinating in the minors and steadily growing in power since Belli’s selection by LA in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB Draft.

Bellinger exploded onto the MLB scene from the jump and won the 2017 NL Rookie of the Year. Two autumns later, he was named NL MVP in his third MLB season: a 47-homer, 115-RBI campaign. Bellinger’s star was at maximum height, but then COVID interrupted his flow in 2020, much like it did many of the game’s hottest hitters. Even worse, Bellinger suffered a flurry of injuries in 2021 (including shoulder surgery and a fractured fibula), ruining his season and definitely polluting his 2022, too.

The Dodgers non-tendered him following the ’22 season, an appalling display of how quickly MLB fortunes can change. 

But those fortunes have now swung back in Bellinger’s favor. A return to form in the Bronx has free agency’s richest suitors discussing Bellinger's name daily, and even the team that gave up on him is now reportedly giving thought to giving him another shot. 

Of course, the Dodgers aren’t interested in Bellinger for sentimental or storybook reasons. They’re laser-focused on making history in 2026, and all sorts of player loyalties bow down to that priority, including LA’s relationship with Teoscar (reportedly). If not Bellinger or Teoscar, perhaps Kyle Tucker will be their guy.