Maybe Cody Bellinger

[Centerfield]

Cody Bellinger is being proposed as a salary dump candidate.



https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaredwyllys/2024/11/22/will-the-cubs-trade-cody-bellinger/https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaredwyllys/2024/11/22/will-the-cubs-trade-cody-bellinger/



If the Mets get Soto, it's probably too rich for them. But if they miss on Soto, Bellinger could be part of the "spread that Soto money around" plan. Bellinger plays CF/1B.



Bellinger has been pretty inconsistent. But if they miss on getting the impact bat, Bellinger could be a good "lengthen the lineup" guy.



His recent OPS



2024: .751

2023: .881

2022: .654

2021: .542



His power is pretty much shot. He's only reached 20+ HR's once since his MVP season in 2019.



He'll make $27.5M this year, with a player option for 2026 at $25M. If he declines that option, he gets $5M. So it's either 1 year, $32.5M, or 2 years, $52.5M.

[metsmarathon]

Bellinger is the kind of guy who, if he goes to your favorite team, will suck hard and often. But if he goes to you biggest rival will invariably regain his mvp ways.



Pass.



But he'll do great on the braves, who will pay nothing for him.

[MFS62]

If you just want a hitter, Joc Pederson is out there.

Bellinger adds a glove to that, but would probably be more costly.



Later

[Edgy MD]

A lot of "if not Soto" planning becomes more complex when there's an "if not Soto but Alonso" contingency, an "if not Alonso but Soto" alternative, an "if Soto but not Alonso" scenario, and an "if both Soto and Alonso" diegesis.



When the Mets traded Mike Cameron for Xavier Nady, it was because they felt they had a reason to believe that they would be acquiring either Manny Ramirez or Carlos Delgado, but weren't sure which, but were pretty certain they couldn't pull off both, so they needed a firstbaseman/outfielder to fill in whichever spot the later, bigger acquisition wouldn't fill.



In that context, looking at Bellinger as a foreshadowing of a later deal makes some sense.



That decline looks pretty precipitous though, and it feels like less than a coin flip whether he can outhit José Siri and ... wait a minute, didn't he just go to the Yankees?



OE: The news seems awfully confused. Damned AI journalists.

[smg58]

The 2023 Bellinger would be worth his salary. The 2024 version would still outhit Jose Siri, but might not be an overall upgrade. He'll be 30 in July, so age is not a concern. I'm just not sure what we're going to get. I might be interested if the Cubs don't ask for anything I'd miss in addition to taking his contract.