The trade that I guess needed to happen has happened. After grabbing Kyle Tucker, and as discussed on the Dreamcast, the Cubs have indeed offloaded Cody Bellinger to the Yankees:
The Yankees are acquiring first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger from the Cubs, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Cubs also send cash to the Yanks and receive right-hander Cody Poteet. Per Jack Curry of YES Network, it’s $5MM going to the Yankees. Per Jesse Rogers of ESPN, that’ll be $2.5MM this year and $2.5MM next year. The second $2.5MM will go towards either his buyout or his 2026 salary, depending on his opt-out decision, per Passan. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that Bellinger has been told he’ll be playing center field for the Yanks.
Via MLBTR
Given the acquisition of Tucker and the need to bat Seiya Suzuki (and probably let him play RF) every now and then, not to mention the glut of outfielders in the system, this trade was probably inevitable, but the nearly full-scale salary dump is a bit surprising. Nevertheless, that’s about $25MM the Cubs get to repurpose for bullpen, more infielders, a starting pitcher or two, etc. if they so choose. The Cubs are certainly not done yet as they have payroll space even if they might dial back the total payroll a tad, and they also have a bit more trade capital to play with.
I think they might actually try that Luzardo trade or even trade for Luis Castillo, there are also other options as we did sort of mention Turnbull, but the ball is in Jed’s court it seems
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
A guy like Turnbull is exactly who I expect this FO to sign, I hope they prove me wrong though.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
It’s a reasonable project to tackle but I would hope they do a bit more
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I wonder who the backup/emergency CF is now. Alcantara? Tucker has played like 45 innings of CF in his career, and I don’t feel thrilled about Happ moving back over there.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
One of Canario or Alcantara, whoever isn’t traded
Rice CubeQuote Reply
berselius,
Watch it be Seiya and he wows us.
andcountingQuote Reply
This site is likely going to be offline for awhile starting tonight at around 9 pm. Database is many, many years outdated and the host is updating it. This theme is almost certainly not going to work since it’s old. Same with some plugins. I’m going to switch to some generic theme and figure the rest out later.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Was wondering (dying laughing)
Anyway, Cubs needed money to send to the Yankees (dying laughing)
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/12/white-sox-acquire-matt-thaiss-from-cubs.html
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I think both are pretty good in CF, just not PCA good.
Terrible undersell IMO. They better use the money for something damn good.
When Santander or Teoscar sign for 4/$90 or more, it’ll be clear that the Cubs undersold, because Belli is worth much more than that.
BVSQuote Reply