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By Patrick McAvoy
Contributing Sports Writer
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The New York Yankees were among the top teams in the American League in 2025 despite losing one of the best overall players in baseball in Juan Soto before the campaign.
Soto had a highly publicized sweepstakes in free agency that featured the Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and New York Mets, among others. After a great 2024 season with the Yankees, Soto opted to leave the organization to sign with the Mets. The Yankees regrouped and made a handful of moves, including the acquisition of Cody Bellinger to help replace Soto.
Now, Bellinger has the opportunity to enter free agency this offseason and opt out of his deal. It would make sense for the Yankees to keep him after a 29-homer and 98-RBI season in New York. MLB.com's Mark Feinsand made a list of the top 30 free agents to watch with potential landing spots and unsurprisingly mentioned the Yankees for Bellinger, but also called the Mets and Tigers a potential fit.
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"No. 5) Cody Bellinger, 1B/OF, Yankees (age 30)," Feinsand said. "After signing a one-year deal with the Cubs in 2023 and a three-year deal with Chicago in 2024, Bellinger -- who was traded to the Yankees last winter -- plans to opt out of the final year and $25 million to test free agency once again this winter.
"After an uneven 2024 campaign, Bellinger thrived in the Bronx in '25, belting 29 home runs with 98 RBIs and an .814 OPS in 152 games, and posting his highest bWAR (5.0) since 2019 (8.7), when he won NL MVP honors. The versatile slugger has been a perfect fit for the Yankees, but other teams could try to pry him away from New York with the long-term deal that has evaded him to this point. Potential fits: Mets, Tigers, Yankees."
Imagine if the Yankees lost an All-Star outfielder to the Mets in back-to-back offseasons? That would be a nightmare. The World Series hasn't kicked off yet so this is a bit premature, but an insider of Feinsand's caliber mentioning the Mets for Bellinger should at least have Yankees fans' attention.
The Tigers adding Bellinger would present its own set of issues for the Yankees, who would face the prospect of having to compete with Bellinger and his new team in the AL pennant race.
More MLB: Yankees ‘In Play’ For $80 Million Star Slugger
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