Yankees facing major Cody Bellinger risk in free agency

Billy Heyen

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Yankees facing major Cody Bellinger risk in free agency image

The New York Yankees haven't done much of anything this offseason.

That's very different than their AL East counterparts in Baltimore, Boston and Toronto.

The one move that there has been at least some assumption that the Yankees would make is the re-signing of Cody Bellinger.

Bellinger was a shining piece of what the Yanks did in 2025. He fits their roster very well.

The tricky part is that Bellinger is now the one big-name hitter left in free agency. Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette and Alex Bregman are off the board.

That leaves every team who missed out on them particularly interested in Bellinger.

And that raises the stakes for the Yankees. They didn't get the deal done yet, and they've got as much competition as ever.

"The Yankees are supposed to be the team swooping in at the last minute and swiping guys, not the Mets," wrote MLB.com's Will Leitch, relating to the Mets' signing of Bichette away from the Blue Jays. "If the Yankees lose out on Bellinger, what in the world are they going to do? It may be strange that a division rival losing one of its best players may put more pressure on the Yankees than any other team in baseball. But they can’t lose Bellinger now."

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The Yankees have a lot of young hitting depth, like Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones, that would get more playing time if Bellinger left.

At the same time, though, the Yankees know what they have in Bellinger. And this is a franchise that used to pay guys like Bellinger with no issues.

For whatever reason, this one is taking longer to get done. If it doesn't get done, it could come at a major cost of its own in New York.

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Staff Writer