Sitting outside of the playoff race with just a few weeks to go, it’s fair to say that the Chicago Cubs’ season has not gone as they were hoping.
The team spent more than $172 million in the offseason to bolster a win-now roster, including a three-year, $80 million contract for former MVP and two-time Silver Slugger Cody Bellinger. But after the first season of that sizable deal, Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report expects Bellinger to move on to another team.
“The 29-year-old can opt out of the final two seasons of his three-year, $80 million deal this winter, and despite less-than-stellar numbers this season, his age and track record could still make another run at the open market an appealing option,” per Retuer. “With Pete Crow-Armstrong emerging as the future in center field for the Cubs and Michael Busch settling in at first base, letting Bellinger walk and spending that money elsewhere should be a no-brainer for the Cubs if he does decide to opt-out.”
If Bellinger does exercise his player opt-out after this season, he’ll be walking away from $52.5 million in the remaining two years of the deal. He has slashed .267/.325/.424 with 15 homers on the season so far, slight downticks from a debut season with the Cubs in 2023 that saw him win the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award. But as a 29-year-old with the defensive versatility to play the infield and outfield, plus that MVP award from 2019, there should be another team out there willing to give him a longer-term contract or at least a change of scenery at the same salary.
“Bellinger has definitely not been as productive as he was last season with the Cubs, but that’s not really the benchmark or threshold he needs to cross to justify an opt-out,” Michael Cerami noted for Bleacher Nation. “The potential for a better deal is pretty high, and the fallback of finding at least something similar would be a virtual lock.”
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