CHICAGO (WGN) — The Chicago Cubs have completed a trade with the New York Yankees, sending former MVP Cody Bellinger to the Bronx, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Passan reports Bellinger and cash are headed to the Yankees, in exchange for right-handed reliever Cody Poteet being sent to the Cubs.
According to Spotrac, Poteet has four more club-controlled years and Chicago paid down $5 million ($2.5 million per year) of Bellinger’s remaining salary to send him to the Yankees. Poteet is entering his final pre-arbitration season in 2025.
Bellinger posted above-average numbers at the plate in 2024 (.751 OPS, 111 OPS+), but there was a notable fall-off in production from his 2023 season. Two years ago, he won a Silver Slugger award with the North Siders and slashed .307/.356/.525 across a campaign where he hit 26 home runs, 29 doubles, drove in 97 runs, and stole 20 bases on the way to finishing tenth in that year’s National League MVP balloting.
Before joining the Cubs, Bellinger made two All-Star teams in six seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the peak of which included him winning the 2019 NL MVP award.
Poteet is heading into his fourth season in the big leagues, where he has been — for the most part — a long reliever and spot starter for New York and the Miami Marlins before that.
In 2024, Poteet went 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA across five games (four starts) where he pitched 24.1 innings, gave up six earned runs, and struck out 16 batters while only walking eight.
In two seasons with the Marlins from 2022-23, Poteet went 2-4 with a 4.45 ERA across 19 games (nine starts) where he pitched 58.2 innings with 53 strikeouts and 27 walks.
Stay with WGN News as this article will be updated with more information once it becomes available.