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While it's hard to watch a former beloved Dodger take such a massive tumble from grace, the Cubs were in an unenviable position with Cody Bellinger this offseason. Despite some rumors to the contrary, he exercised his $25 million player option for 2025, and the Cubs immediately turned around and started to offer him to any team that would give them the time of day, but any takers seemed to be nonexistent.
Despite a great 2023 season that earned him the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award, he made it pretty clear in 2024 that it was a fluke or a flash in the pan, because in the same amount of games this past season, his batting average dropped by over 40 points and his OPS by 130 as he regressed again.
But the Cubs were desperate to clear payroll after their second consecutive middling season, so they made finding a new home for Bellinger a priority. Enter the New York Yankees, who have been the most active on both the free agent and trade markets since they lost Juan Soto in free agency.
On Tuesday, Jeff Passan reported that Bellinger would be headed to the Bronx along with $5 million from Chicago, in exchange for starter Cody Poteet.
BREAKING: OF/1B Cody Bellinger has been traded from the Chicago Cubs to the New York Yankees, sources tell ESPN. Bellinger, 29, is a former MVP and has two years remaining on his contract with an opt-out after 2025. Yankees continue to be aggressive post-Juan Soto.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 17, 2024
Cubs, Yankees make a trade that sends former Dodgers star Cody Bellinger to New York
The Yankees have already made a few admittedly good additions since they completely blew it in the World Series. They signed Max Fried, traded for Devin Williams, and now they've got Bellinger, but losing Soto will still arguably be the most memorable occurrence of their offseason.
It feels a little unfair to lump Fried and Williams in with Bellinger as well, though. Fried has had his issues but was still a top-shelf guy for the Braves for years, and Williams could be one of the best closers in baseball next season. Apart from 2023, every aspect of Bellinger's game has declined since his 2019 MVP season. Even his glove, which did a lot of heavy lifting for him even when his offense was poor, was barely above league average in 2024.
There's a reason the Dodgers non-tendered Bellinger at the end of the 2022 season. Even if his 2023 might've left the Dodgers with some regrets, 2024 proved that they made the right call moving on from their 2017 Rookie of the Year and 2019 MVP. Oh well. He's the Yankees' problem now.