NEWSLETTER
UPDATE: Cubs are landing Cody Bellinger. Original post follows.
Not unlike Kodai Senga, I feel like all we’ve seen on Cody Bellinger lately is about how many teams are interested, without much specific reference to the Cubs. Just a dozen teams with interest. Huge market. Lots of suitors. Etc.
That’s probably all true, since almost any team could be happy to take a crack at a bounce-back Bellinger on a very cheap one-year deal. But when the rubber meets the road, he’s going to get a pretty healthy price tag on a one-year deal, which is his preference:
As for the Cubs, they met with Bellinger over the past few days, together with two of the other suitors I’ve heard mentioned most often:
Given the extremely thin options in center field out there, given Bellinger’s quality glove (in center and at first base), and given the short-term chance to see if you can bounce him back for a year – he’s 27, has been a stud before, and is healthy – Bellinger is probably my preferred target for the Cubs in center field. Yes, I think it remains far more likely that, due to the serious deterioration in his swing, he never gets back to even slightly above league average. But the shot, since the glove creates a floor and since the Cubs don’t have an in-house option immediately available, sounds good to me.
