Obsessive Cody Bellinger Watch: What is “Likely,” Angels Talking to Boras, PCA, More

Jan 26, 2024

Given that I’ve been obsessing over Cody Bellinger’s market for months now, this turned into an Obsessive Watch without me even realizing it.

Some of the latest on Bellinger …

If you needed another presumptive statement about the Cubs and Bellinger, look no further than the latest from Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney at The Athletic, which opens with, “Even if the Chicago Cubs re-sign Cody Bellinger — an outcome that seems likely but is hardly guaranteed — a big part of this year will be creating opportunities for young talent.” Seems likely.

Now, that article is about young players emerging on the big league team this year (and it’s a great read!), so please understand this is not about reporting new information. Instead, it’s about a couple plugged-in local beats who are operating off of a baseline where Cody Bellinger returning to the Cubs this offseason “seems likely.” Not a sure thing. Not guaranteed. But likely.

One thing I have trouble reconciling: if everyone is so sure the Cubs are going to eventually get Bellinger, then what does that say about his eventual price tag? Because a world where the Cubs land him is a world where they got their price, not the other way around. So is Bellinger – and Scott Boras – really going to take a deal that is surprisingly low? Will it come to that? I just don’t see Jed Hoyer giving Bellinger a monster contract, given the performance risks (the down years due to injury and the contact quality questions) and the future positional overlaps (Bellinger is arguably worth a monster contract only as long as he stays in center field). So, if you asked all the folks predicting he lands with the Cubs, are they also predicting Bellinger winds up with a disappointing contract? Because that’s the only way I can square that circle.

We’ve said since literally day one of the offseason that (1) if Bellinger doesn’t get a monster contract offer, he’s coming back to the Cubs; and, (2) if Bellinger does get a monster contract offer, it won’t be from the Cubs. This all continues to track in my mind, but butts up against the idea that number 1 is more likely to happen than number 2.

Speaking of which, you know what team kinda scares me on Bellinger? A team that might do something crazy? The Angels. It’s been the Arte Moreno playbook for years now: find a star player, hone in on him regardless of how well he projects or fits with the roster, and then wildly overpay to get the deal done. If Moreno decides Bellinger is sufficiently star-like in Southern California, particularly on the heels of losing Shohei Ohtani to the crosstown Dodgers, it’s very easy to see him directing GM Perry Minasian to get a Bellinger deal done no matter what. These kinds of decisions aren’t always rational.

And this isn’t entirely out of the blue, as the Angels have reportedly had interest in Bellinger most of this offseason, even if they – like everyone else – have hesitated on the $200+ million price tag so far. In a recent podcast, David Vassegh of Dodger Talk reported that the Angels have been talking to Scott Boras about Bellinger. Just a ploy by Boras to get that word out there? Maybe. But it also might be a situation where Boras is trying to take the matter straight to Moreno. Vassegh speculated that the longer this goes on – which may be into Spring Training – the less the chances are the Cubs retain Bellinger, though I’ll disagree with him on that part. Longer is definitely better for the Cubs, as painful as the waiting has become.

Speaking of which, here is perhaps the Cubs trying to put out there that they don’t HAVE to have Bellinger, since they have Pete Crow-Armstrong waiting in the wings:

Will Cody Bellinger return to the Windy City?@jonmorosi explains the impact that Cubs' No. 1 prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong has had on the free agent slugger's market. pic.twitter.com/7zHaqGcsUe— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 25, 2024

Here’s what I believe about the Cubs, PCA, and Cody Bellinger: long-term, the Cubs do believe PCA is going to be the center fielder of the future. Shorter-term, though, I don’t think they want to assume he’s going to be ready to be the starter for all of 2024. To that end, and because of his lefty power, I think the Cubs extremely want Bellinger back for 2024. The question is how much beyond 2024 do they accept, and figure they can coordinate later, in order to get Bellinger now.

Jon Heyman says Cody Bellinger remains the most logical fit for the Cubs, and vice versa, but Matt Chapman is an alternative. The Giants may not be hot on Bellinger after the Jung-Hoo Lee addition (which is an interesting comment from Heyman, who often has a lot to say about Boras clients that is helpful to their case), but the Angels like him.

written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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