Yankees trade for Cody Bellinger...They've promised him center from what I've read. Probably sub him in at first as well.
So far this off season they have added...Max Fried, Devin William and Bellinger...All good moves by the Bombers.
They need one more big bat though.
I'm surprised that the Blue Jays front office is being so docile thus far. Their fans are amongst the best in the game. They deserve better.
I do like the Devin Williams move (mutually good trade for both teams - both teams dealt in areas they have excessed). Max Fried is a nice move for the current window of the next 2 or 3 years - but man 8 years is scary for a 31 year old with mixed injury history. But its good for 2025 and for the Yanks that is what matters as Judge and Cole are not getting younger. So I'm good with it, and deal with the ramifications later.
However, regarding Bellinger. I have to strongly disagree that this was a good move for the Yanks. It's a bad move, he's just not that good. 2019 was a long time ago! Willingly taking on the Bellinger contract (2/$52m or 1/$30m if you buy him out) reeked of desperation from the loss of Soto and the need to do something ASAP. Should have just continued to play the market (FA or trade). The Jays have done nothing much which is disappointing (but not unexpected), but taking on Bellinger might have made things worse for the Jays since while they have a big payroll, there is still a target number they have to spend.
Why did Bellinger exercise his player option, instead of opting out to become a free agent? It's because he knows he would get nowhere near $25M/year on the open market. He is overpaid.
This is what Bellinger has done the last 4 years.
2021: -1.7 WAR (one of the worst years by any player since 2000)
2022 - 1.8 WAR (a bit below average for a full time starter)
2023 - 4.4 WAR (A good year, but all the analytics (Ball in play, hard hit %), suggested there was lots of luck in his numbers and a regression was likely_
2024 - 2.2 WAR (Average starter. What do you know there was a massive regression from his "Luck" based numbers in 2023.
And he's far removed from the gold glove defence of 2019.
Basically since his MVP year in 2019, which is getting farther and farther away, he has had one season above average and analytics suggested it could have been a luck based outlier.
I'll gladly admit I was entirely wrong on this assessment if Bellinger has a good year.
I'm sure the Jays could have got in on this to if they wanted. Let's see what they do with the $25m-$30m we are told they will still spend. Will be interesting to come back to it later to see who came out ahead. It might be bad for both is my guess!