January 17, 2025

93 thoughts on “Yankees.com: Yanks to acquire Bellinger from Cubs for reliever (source)”

  1. Keith Law “ If I were in the Yankees’ shoes, I would have preferred to acquire Seiya Suzuki, whose OBP skills would be a perfect fit for a Yankees lineup that is going to have serious problems putting guys on base. Among Yankees currently on their roster, Aaron Judge is the only one who had an OBP over .324 last year, and the only one who had an OBP over .319 against left-handed pitchers.”

    But Suzuki is a sub par defender whereas Bellinger is marginally above average. Wells is a wild card possibility to lead off. When he was good in July and August his OBP was 390.

    2. Not a fan of Bellinger in CF, but in a corner, he’s a good OF.

      Suzuki is not a good enough hitter for his defense, IMO.

    3. Doesn’t the option for 2026 belong to Bellinger, so if he’s fair to middlin like last year he can take another guaranteed 20-odd million, which is what he did after 2024 ended. And if he’s great this year coming he can take a $5 mil parting gift and cash in again?

    5. I think if he’s great this year he opts out and the Yankees owe him nothing, but if he doesn’t opt out, the Yankees can either keep him and pay salary or buy him out of 5 mln. I don’t think they pay him if he DOES opt out, that woudl be kind of crazy.

  4. If 15 years of Soto costs a King’s ransom, and 1 year of Soto equals Michael King’s ransom, and a Cody’s ransom equals another Cody’s AAV with a $5M discount, then can Hal stay under the cap by signing a 48-year-old Cody Ransom under the pretense of shoring up infield defense?

  5. So, in 2024, it’s $24.5 to Bellinger, $10 million to Devin Williams, and $12 million to Fried in year one of his deal, so that is $46.5 million and Soto would be $47.5 million if they had signed him. Interesting (obviously, Fried’s AAV is $27.25 million).

    Those three guys combined for 7.1 bWAR last year (Williams put up 1.4 bWAR as a RELIEVER while missing MOST OF THE SEASON!!!), Soto was 7.9 bWAR.

    2. Not arguing, but – are you sure? The articles are consistently unclear, but they do keep calling the 5 million a “buy-out.” That would seem to make more sense if it were buying out something – specifically, his services for 2026.

    3. I think people just don’t know what else to call it, it’s something that he gets paid when an option is turned down. I guess “Opt-Out bonus” would be more accurate?

      The key thing is that he has total control over whether he is playing for the Yankees in 2026. They cannot buy him out.

  8. They haven’t yet made up
    For Sotos WAR but by replacing negative players with positive that solves that problem

    In truly good news, the last time the Yankees had a Bellinger they made it to the WS.

    Remember “the curse of Bellinger?” Or was it the “curse of Hairston”?

    1. Bellinger was the curse BEFORE the curse of Hairston/Hinske. Their curse still remains, I guess, since the Yankees haven’t won the World Series since 2009.

  9. Heyman-Max Fried

    $218M/8 years

    Signing Bonus – $20M (payable $10,M-1/31/25; $10M-1/31/26)

    $12,000,000 – 2025/2026
    $29,000,000 – 2027/2032

    Full No Trade

    1. I believe it’s usually important when the player is moving from a low tax jurisdiction to a hiigh tax jurisdiction. The signing bonus is immediate, before he moves to, say New York.

  11. boone supposedly saying that bellinger’s defensive role is not set for next year.

    i appreciate that. plug the holes with the best players available, why limit yourself?

    also, i’d like to see JD in cf more than left anyway if it works out that way.

    1. If they sign an outfielder I assume Bellinger will be probably a 1b. Signing Bregman seems best to me and then the Yanks will have to fake it at 1b.

    2. it’s too bad we never hear the dollar signs floated but how cheap is goldie going to be? his splits were quite pronounced last year, a platoon of rice and him could be quite competitive against the field and leave some money for a 3b.

      to save anyone from looking it up:

      295/366/473

    3. or one of those baylor trades that we’re going around where we give them two rookie ball ice cream helmets.

    4. The problem there is that it means devoting three of your 13 hitter spots to 1B/DH, which seems like an inopportune allotment of resources.

      The bench would be, what?

      DJ (assuming they acquire a third baseman)
      Rice
      Grisham
      Trevino

      That’s a shitty ass bench, and there isn’t even a backup shortstop on that list, so I guess you’d have to cut DJ if you went with a platoon at first, with Waldo being the fourth guy on the bench.

  14. How’s this for an out of the box idea? Just keep LeMahieu, play him at second base, then give Alonso $45 million for one year to play first base. Would he really turn down a $45 million pillow contract? If he has a great season, he could make a shit ton in 2026.

    Jazz 3B (L)
    Judge RF (R)
    Bellinger CF/LF (L)
    Alonso 1B (R)
    Dominguez LF/CF (S)
    Stanton DH (R)
    Wells C (L)
    Volpe SS (R)
    LeMahieu 2B (R)

    Bench:
    Waldo INF/OF
    Grisham CF
    Trevino C
    SOMEbody who hits from the right side of the plate who could pinch hit for LeMahieu late in a game. Donovan Solano, perhaps?

    1. Who’s your candidate for this year’s player who plays like crap all season and only after the season tells everyone he was secretly hurt all season long?

    4. I think Alonso is still young enough that he could have a great season. Santana is so old I don’t know how you can possibly trust that he won’t fall off of the cliff at any moment.

      I’ve begun to sour on Bregman because, at 31, Arenado was SO MUCH better than Bregman, and Arenado is almost useless now, just two years later, so why would you commit to Bregman long term?

      In one year, they should have Kyle Tucker, but they have to GET there first, without committing too much long term money, while still having a good 2025 team. It’s so tricky.

    7. With Jazz, Volpe, and DJ, the other guys should all be so good on defense that Alonso shouldn’t stand out too much. No more Soto and no more Gleyber should help the defense a LOT. DJ as a second baseman is outstanding defensively. If he is anything more than the worst hitter on the planet (which is sadly no guarantee) he should still help them.

    8. My impression of DJ was that he didn’t look good in the field last year. It might work? But I am still pretty down on Alonso at 1b. I think i’d still rather get a cheap old guy CashmanSpecial short term or a trade for Naylor/Diaz.

    10. Rather than DJLM, I’d prefer Snuffy Stirnweiss at second.
      His corpse has been out of Newark Bay for 66 years, so at this point, he’ll stink less.

    11. If LeMahieu just truly cannot compete at the big league level anymore, then you simply cut him and eat his salary, and use Peraza out there. The defense will still be excellent.

      Basically, if they get a good enough bat for first base, I think that they can afford to prioritize defense at second.

    12. DJ’s innings at 2B have been decreasing every season: 663 in 2021, 312.2 in 2022, 72 in 2023, and none in 2024 (not surprising). I don’t think they’re interested in playing him there over Oswaldo or Jazz.

    13. I slightly disagree, in only that there’s always been a priority need for him to play third and first. In other words, it’s not that they don’t want him to play second, it’s that second is the one position that they’ve typically had Gleyber available to play for the last few years.

      DJ’s bat plays a whole lot better at second than third.

  18. Cashman discussed DJ yesterday, and he had an interesting take on him, which was, “DJ LeMahieu should be healthy as we enter Spring Training. I don’t want to discount DJ as playing a role at third, second, or first.”

    I think it really turns on whether the dude is actually healthy. LeMahieu playing hurt AGAIN is one of the worst players in baseball.

    2. Who gets hurt first, DJ, Bellinger, or Jasson?

      “Yes.”
      — Steve Donohue, and also Bud Abbott

    6. They’ve gotten guys, but it tends not to be a case of them winning bidding wars. I don’t recall who else was even IN on Springer. Same with the big deal they gave Russell Martin. Gausman had a market, but they definitely paid a premium. Other than that, I can’t really recall the last truly desirable free agent that they’ve acquired.

  20. I know that there is still a lot of time left, but it’s pretty hilarious how the Yankees have only replaced Soto with Bellinger at this point, a far worse hitter than Soto. Yes, Dominguez should improve on Verdugo next season, and you figure Wells will develop (and you can HOPE that Volpe will develop), but boy, otherwise, it’s the same shitty lineup they had for most of the playoffs outside of Judge, Soto and Stanton…only now with Bellinger instead of Soto. That’s not going to be good enough.

    1. I just want a lineup where you’re not saying, “Okay, they’ve gotten past Soto and Judge. Well, we have to wait until Soto and Judge are back up again before they can possibly score again.” Because, well, you know, Soto is no longer here, so that old strategy can’t work anymore.

    2. The picked up WAR with pitching, but you know that.
      And I’m sure they don’t think they’ve solved the problem with Bellinger alone.
      If it ended now, yes, that would be appalling. But almost all the hitters are still on the board.

    3. But I don’t think even one more hitter really does it. That’s what kills me, is that there really ISN’T a realistic path for them right now to make this a good lineup long term.

      You can either A. Improve the lineup short term by giving out long term contracts that will age like milk (Bregman, Santandar, Teoscar, Alonso), and might get in the way of you acquiring Tucker next year, which is the clear cut best next move for the team, B. Not really improve it much by giving out short term contracts (Santana, Goldschmidt), C. Trade for an impact hitter with the minor league assets that you don’t have (Who even would that BE?).

      It’s not great.

      I’ll give them this much, there are at least more options this season than had they been in the same situation last year.

  21. ESPN But there was a caveat to the Yankees’ pitch: They would only move forward with Fried if Juan Soto chose to sign elsewhere. Once Soto decided to join the New York Mets, the Yankees quickly pivoted to Fried, their No. 2 target in free agency.

    Would signing Fried first have incentivized Soto to return?

  22. More Cash on DJ, “He’s a pro and he’s gonna do everything in his power to be in position to contribute. I believe he’ll be healthy going into camp and will look to erase tough memories of the last two seasons. Injuries have derailed him.”

    2. “Paul oniel hasn’t played in 20+ years but he’s a real pro so I trust that he will put himself is a position to help us…”
      The way that Yanks can make up for the loss of Soto is by replacing negative WAR players with zero WAR (or even better positive WAR players). Relying on DJLM is either Cashman blowing smoke or he’s lost it

    1. Now that Cash says DJ is fine, that’s one less hole to fill. Was Cash really interested in Walker and if so was it money or something else that made him choose Houston?

  28. River Ave. Blues
    ‪@riveraveblues.bsky.social‬
    NYY was reportedly in the mix. I don’t love any of the 1B free agents and am not upset they didn’t give a 34yo with declining contact rates three years. Trade for Nate Lowe or LaMonte Wade Jr.

    1. Hardly crushed, agree. Maybe they’re working on something creative, unexpected? Or not, of course.

  29. Agree, glad the Yankees didn’t go for Walker. I am relatively skeptical of him to begin with.
    A trade for Lamonte Wade Jr is an interesting idea – his defense is not very good, and he hasn’t slugged much. But he walks a bunch, and he could be a very good lead off guy.
    Ideally SF would take Grisham or Stroman in return, though I bet they’d ask for Will Warren instead.

    Wade 3
    Judge 9
    Bellinger 7
    Stanton DH
    Dominguez 8
    Wells 2
    Chisholm 4
    Cabrera 5
    Volpe 6

    Nobody seems terribly out of place there.
    Rest Wells once or twice a week, play Trevino or Rice based on the matchup.
    Rest Stanton and DH Judge once a week, play Pereira (or Grisham if you haven’t traded him).
    Rest Volpe once a week, play Peraza.
    Rest DJ forever, in pace.

  30. Walker always made the most sense for a team where he was sort of “the last piece.” Like if the Yankees had signed Soto, Walker would have been perfect.

    But they simply could not lock themselves into him at first base for the next three years. That’s the problem for the Yankees. The only guys who actually help the lineup NOW are the guys who you’ll have to lock in longterm, and none of them are guys that they should WANT to lock in longterm.

    Santander and Alonso are DHs, Teoscar is coming to his drop-off age (and he’ll instead want at least three years), and Bregman actually did everyone a favor by starting HIS drop-off before he even finished his previous contract! And yet he still wants a seven-year deal for over $200 million!! He wants MORE money than Adames despite being two years older, and obviously already hitting his decline phase! His decline phase is still pretty fucking good, and if it HOLDS here for a few more seasons, he’ll be great, but how can you have any confidence that it WILL hold for the next few seasons?

  31. Bregman (R)
    Judge (R)
    Bellinger (L)
    Stanton (R)
    Jazz (L)
    Goldschmidt/Rice (R)
    Wells (L)
    Volpe (R)

    Waldo
    Trevino
    Grisham
    Rice

    As the bench.

    That’s not an AWFUL lineup. And only Bergman would be long term. Ugh, still don’t love Bregman.

  32. Michael Lorenzen and his agent are cooking up something clever. They are tying to pitch him as a two-way player, as that way, teams can carry an extra pitcher. The plan would be for him to sign with a shitty team that will let him DH, so that he can then be flipped to a contender. Bizarre. Wouldn’t someone want to just pay him like a NORMAL pitcher? He’s a pretty good pitcher.

  33. The New York Yankees today announced that they have acquired RHP Fernando Cruz and C Alex Jackson from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for C Jose Trevino.
    Cruz age 34 misses bats.

  34. River Ave. Blues
    ‪@riveraveblues.bsky.social‬
    Cruz has a great splitter, lots of strikeouts. Jackson is a backup catcher who can’t hit at all. Wonder if NYY looks for a new backup now.

    1. Pretty sure they dumped him and his salary, none of the articles mention money being exchanged.

      Ben Rice backup catcher?

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