The Chicago Cubs and centerfielder Cody Bellinger agreed to a one-year deal on Tuesday.
The contract is worth $17.5 million, according to MLB insider for ESPN Jeff Passan.
Outfielder Cody Bellinger and the Chicago Cubs are in agreement on a one-year, $17.5 million contract, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 6, 2022
“He’s a really good fit from a perspective of it is great defense, great base running, left-handed bat with the potential to have an uptick offensively,” said Cubs manager David Ross said Tuesday, according to ESPN.
Bellinger, who spent his first six seasons playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, will look to revitalize his career in Chicago after having a bit of a decline in production over the last few seasons.
In Bellinger’s first three years in the MLB, he looked like one of the best players in baseball. He hit a total of 111 homeruns and had no less than 75 RBI’s, according to Baseball Reference. Bellinger was even named the National League MVP in 2019 at just 23-years-old.
Over the last few years, the former MVP has endured a few difficult injuries that seem to have slowed him down a bit, especially at the plate. He underwent surgery on his right shoulder after the Dodgers championship campaign in 2020 after injuring himself while celebrating his game seven homerun with teammate Enrique Hernández during the National League Championship Series (NLCS) against the Atlanta Braves. (RELATED: MLB Is Looking For Scorekeepers At $35/Hour And It Looks Like Pretty Much Anybody Can Get A Gig)
He also missed a huge chunk of the in 2021 season after suffering a hairline fracture in his left fibula after colliding with Oakland A’s relief pitcher Reymin Guduan during a play at first base early into the season. Gudan inadvertently stepped on Bellinger’s lower leg with his cleat spikes and put him out of action for significant time.
Now that Bellinger is seemingly healthy again and is playing in a new city, I expect that he will return to playing at an All-Star level again. He was too good of a player prior to his injuries to fold on what was once a very promising MLB career.
If he plays well in the upcoming season, I’m sure that he will be rewarded with a much more lucrative deal during free agency next year.