ORLANDO, Fla. — One potential suitor for Cody Bellinger almost certainly came off the board Tuesday.
But the outfielder’s agent divulged the competition that the Yankees are facing to retain Bellinger, even if his market may no longer include the Phillies after they agreed to a five-year, $150 million deal with Kyle Schwarber.
Scott Boras, speaking as the Schwarber news broke, indicated that Bellinger’s list of suitors is lengthy — including the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Giants, Reds and Angels — and the pursuit of the lefty-swinging outfielder may only heat up now that Schwarber is off the board.
Cody Bellinger is a top free agent. Robert Sabo for NY Post
“It’s not for me to Judge, but great players see Red if they have a big bat Yanked out of their lineup,” Boras said during his annual state of his clients at the winter meetings. “I haven’t Met a team that Dodges a five-tool player. To Phil the center field need is a Giant step towards the playoffs. North and South, outfielders that fly with power, they’re rare birds. In the offseason, there’s a lot of startup to organizations, and for that reason, there’s a lot of Angel investors that are looking for very versatile outfielders.
“So other than that, Belli doesn’t have much interest.”
There was initially some thought that Bellinger would wait for Kyle Tucker to sign before agreeing to any deal, and while that may no longer be the case, it also did not sound as if anything was imminent.
Scott Boras represents Cody Bellinger. Getty Images
“I can never predict markets because when owners get involved, they can do things at a moment’s notice,” Boras said. “With these type of players, it’s happened before, I would expect it could happen again.”
Boras declined to say if Hal Steinbrenner had gotten involved in the Bellinger talks to date, but GM Brian Cashman has been in regular contact with talks continuing.
While Steinbrenner said last month that getting his payroll under $300 million would be “ideal” — something that would be virtually impossible if they sign Bellinger, given that they are already projected to be at $283 million — Boras said he has not gotten any sense from his talks with the Yankees that they are trying to limit spending.
“I don’t think when Cash or [team president] Randy [Levine] call me, they talk about limiting payroll, no they don’t,” Boras said. “They talk about acquiring players. They’ve never made mention of that. I go back to what they did with [Juan] Soto last year. Hal, Randy and Cash did everything they could possibly do to pursue a great talent. So I have no reason that they would approach this market any differently.”
