The plot thickens.
We’ve been waiting for news on Cody Bellinger and here it is:
BREAKING: Chicago Cubs CF/1B Cody Bellinger picked up his $27.5 million player option for the 2025 season and will not be a free agent, sources tell me and @JeffPassan.
— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) November 2, 2024
So Bellinger will remain a Cub and play a third season on the North Side.
Largely due to injuries, Bellinger’s 2024 season was not as good as his 2023, though it was certainly decent enough: .266/.325/.426 with 23 doubles, 18 home runs and nine stolen bases. That was good for 2.2 bWAR, after he posted a 4.4 bWAR season in 2023 and received some downballot MVP votes.
This sets up the Cubs’ outfield to be largely the same as it was in 2024, with Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Bellinger, left to right, and Seiya Suzuki as the primary designated hitter.
If you had any thoughts of the Cubs signing Juan Soto as a free agent, this pretty much kills those, I would think, and if the Cubs are to spend any money this offseason it will — and in my view, should — be spent on pitching, and perhaps on picking up a catcher via trade.
Meanwhile, Bellinger is betting on himself to have a better year in 2025 and hit free agency next offseason. If he does, perhaps that will help the Cubs to the postseason.
As always, we await developments.