Cody Bellinger Rumors: Jays, Giants Among Top Fits for Former Dodgers Outfielder
Two weeks ago, the Dodgers did what would have seemed unthinkable just a couple years ago, non-tendering former MVP Cody Bellinger and making him a free agent at age 27. While L.A. isn’t out of the running to re-sign Belli at a lower dollar amount than what they would have paid him in arbitration, there’s a lot of demand for the supremely talented outfielder who is looking for a one-year deal to re-establish his value.
Over at MLB.com, Will Leitch has put together a list of his most likely destinations for Bellinger. First on his list are the Blue Jays:
Ever since they traded Teoscar Hernández to the Mariners, most of baseball has been waiting for the Blue Jays to bring in another outfielder. While Brandon Nimmo has been the hot rumor, Bellinger makes a ton of sense too.
The Giants are the second team on Leitch’s list:
He’s a better center fielder than anything they have now, he’d surely send plenty of baseballs into McCovey Cove and putting him in a Giants uniform is a great way to annoy Dodgers fans.
The rest of Leitch’s list is, in order: Rangers, Cubs, Mets, White Sox, Cardinals, Red Sox, Dodgers. About the ninth-place Dodgers, Leitch says:
It doesn’t seem entirely off the table, does it? Bellinger might not be eager to return to a team that just non-tendered him, but if the market isn’t as large as we think it might be for him, maybe the Dodgers give him one more year at a lower price than what he would have gotten in arbitration. Seems like a thin chance, though.
Leitch lists the Astros, Marlins, Padres, Rays, and Rockies in the “also interested” category, putting us at nearly half the league kicking the tires on the guy who looked like one of the best players in baseball just three years ago.
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He’s as good as gone.