The arc of Cody Bellinger’s time with the Chicago Cubs is pretty incredible when you consider the whipsaw of the last two years.
When he was rumored to be a flyer target after being non-tendered by the Dodgers, some people were annoyed. Then he was really good in the first half of 2023, and some of the same people were annoyed that the Cubs might trade him. Then the Cubs rallied and decided to keep Bellinger, which wound up not working out, and many folks were annoyed that the Cubs didn’t trade him. Along the way, he finished in the top-10 in the NL MVP race, won a Silver Slugger, and won Comeback Player of the Year.
Then he was a free agent, and a lot of folks desperately wanted the Cubs to re-sign him. Eventually, the Cubs did, but it was on a deal that featured a couple opt-outs that once again put him in year-to-year territory. Then he wasn’t quite as good in 2024, and there were some hopes the Cubs would trade him. Again, didn’t happen. Then Bellinger didn’t opt out of his deal, which was met with deeply mixed reactions. Then this week the Cubs traded him, and again, the reactions have kinda been all over the place.
It’s been wild to observe from the outside, but also to FEEL some of those conflicting feelings myself!
Ultimately, where I land: Cody Bellinger gave the Cubs two good years of baseball, hitting .286/.340/.475/122 wRC+, with 44 homers, 175 RBI, 167 runs, 29 steals, great defense at multiple spots, and an attitude that made him one of the most popular players in the clubhouse. That’s the important stuff on days like this.
As for the trade, we can’t just ignore that Bellinger didn’t really have an obvious starting spot with this group. Yes, the trade was clearly a salary dump – hey, Cody Poteet could be nice depth! – but that mostly just confirms that the Cubs would’ve preferred he opt out in the first place … which we kinda already knew! So Bellinger’s decision to stay cost the Cubs $5 million in money they sent to the Yankees, but got them Cody Poteet. When the trade is viewed through that lens, it’s kinda like … whatever?
The Cubs clearly wanted to construct a certain group of position players, with Kyle Tucker as the heavy focus. Once you cross that bridge, while recognizing that you simply cannot afford to lose Seiya Suzuki’s bat, or move Pete Crow-Armstrong out of center field, or move Michael Busch off of first base, there is only one possible conclusion to all of this. Bellinger had to be dealt. Not trading him would’ve been completely irrational, even if that’s sometimes how we fans understandably process our fandom. We don’t always have to be rational. This time, the front office was, though.
Cody Bellinger posted a very nice farewell to Cubs fans, against the backdrop of a particularly memorable moment:
View this post on InstagramA post shared by cody_bellinger (@cody_bellinger)
And since that got me reminiscing, I gotta share some more of the highlights from Bellinger’s two years with the Cubs. All the best to him at Yankee Stadium, where I think he’s going to rake.
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