Weighing the odds of a Cody Bellinger return to Dodgers (but do fans even want it?)

Former Dodgers Rookie of the Year and MVP Cody Bellinger seems to really like being a free agent, for some reason. On Nov. 3, he declined his $25 million player option with the Yankees to hit the open market for the third time in four offseasons. No doubt agent Scott Boras was in his ear, but the last time he tested free agency, he stayed on the market until past the start of spring training and had to settle for a lot less money than he was aiming for.

The Yankees want to re-sign Bellinger, who also seems amenable to a reunion, but Boras won't make it easy on Brian Cashman. He and Bellinger will undoubtedly speak to multiple teams before finally settling on a deal. The names most frequently attached to him so far are the Phillies, Blue Jays, Giants, Mets, and, to a lesser extent, the Dodgers. Jon Heyman seems convinced that the Dodgers will be in on his market.

The Dodgers don't have a strict need for a new center fielder. Andy Pages turned into an elite defensive player there and had a solid regular season at the plate before completely fizzling out in the postseason. But it would also be entirely characteristic of the Dodgers to upgrade just because they can.

And, of course, they have a connection to Bellinger and could afford him if they wanted to. But do they want to? Would Bellinger even want to come back? Would fans want him back?

A Cody Bellinger reunion could be an option for the Dodgers, but there are a lot of caveats

Bellinger has publicly expressed gratitude for his time in LA, but no one could blame him if he was still a little sore about the Dodgers non-tendering him after the 2022 season. On the flip side, no one could blame the Dodgers for non-tendering him after two seasons of truly awful performance. Bellinger's had an incredible bounce back since then, and maybe he could let bygones be bygones if it meant coming back to a perennial World Series contender.

Fans have been split on the possibility of a reunion. Some still aren't over the Dodgers letting him go in the first place, but others are more scarred by the version of him we saw in 2021 and 2022.

If we had to guess right now, we'd probably say that the Dodgers will keep letting Bellinger thrive elsewhere and maintain their attention on left field and the bullpen, but if he does come back, it'll definitely bring up a lot of mixed feelings for fans.