Yankees' Cody Bellinger free agent news makes 2 outfielders into prime trade candidates

Billy Heyen

Yankees' Cody Bellinger free agent news makes 2 outfielders into prime trade candidates image

The New York Yankees were right to want Cody Bellinger back.

The free agent, who just re-signed with the Yanks on Wednesday, thrived in the Bronx in 2025. It would've made their team worse to let him leave.

But by bringing Bellinger back, the Yankees have created quite the logjam.

And to clear it, they might have to trade one of their two promising young outfielders.

Here's the setup:

  • Aaron Judge is in right.
  • Trent Grisham plays center.
  • Cody Bellinger slots into left.

Nowhere there is Jasson Dominguez or Spencer Jones.

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Giancarlo Stanton can only DH, so he holds down that spot.

You've got Ben Rice at first base and Austin Wells behind the plate most days.

Dominguez, who has been one of the Yankees' top prospects for years and finally showed immense promise in the majors in 2025, truly is boxed out.

Jones, the 6-foot-7 lefty slugger, hasn't even gotten an MLB at bat yet. And where is he gonna find any?

The Yankees almost certainly owe it to themselves to pursue some kind of trade for a pitcher with one of these young players. It wouldn't be easy emotionally to move either, but it could help this year's Yanks be the best team they can be.

An injury in the next couple months could change things, but for now, they're stuck.

They likely never expected Grisham to accept his qualifying offer, but he did, and so now the Yankees surely have more moves coming following the re-signing of Bellinger.

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News Correspondent