With the Chicago Cubs on pace for their third losing season in the last four years, the club figures to be sellers at this year's trade deadline. Outfielder Cody Bellinger's name has been thrown around the rumor mill, but the club could have trouble moving him.
Bellinger's level of production relative to his salary could make him a questionable investment for other teams, via The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma.
“Talking to scouts around baseball, there is a belief that the money could be a big roadblock for many teams,” Sharma reported. “That led many to believe he wouldn’t fetch much in return at the trade deadline. One scout suggested that if the Cubs were to kick in more money, that was the easy way to up the return.”
Bellinger is owed $27.5 million this season, with player options for both next year and the year after, via Spotrac. The former Los Angeles Dodger will earn another $27.5 and $25 million each of the next two years, respectively, should he pick up those options.
The player options could be risky for teams to take on, as Bellinger's not an upper-echelon player.
“The Cubs could also agree to conditionally kick in more money should he opt into his contract for next season,” Sharma continued. “But the dip in power has brought real concerns for teams. There were already questions about his quality-of-contact issues even after last season’s bounce-back. With these results, those remain even as his exit velocity and barrel rate have ticked up ever so slightly this season.”
Bellinger went into Friday's game against the Los Angeles Angels slashing .274/.335/.425 with nine homers and 37 RBI. While he's greatly improved his contact hitting since heading to Chicago, he hasn't even sniffed his career-high 47 homers he smashed as a Dodger in 2019.
What would Chicago fetch in a deal for Bellinger?
The Cubs should target prospects in a Bellinger trade
Assuming Chicago doesn't go on a late-season run and make the playoffs, Bellinger could easily opt out and walk away for nothing in the winter. That's why the club must get some assets back for him while it still can.
The general rule of thumb is that non-contending teams should focus on rebuilding with young talent, rather than target veterans. The New York Yankees could be the perfect trade partner, as they could use a consistent outfield bat next to Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. Alex Verdugo is slumping, Giancarlo Stanton is injured, and the squad desperately needs offensive depth to stay in the AL East race.
Furthermore, New York has promising prospects the Cubs could rebuild with, such as infielder Oswald Peraza and outfielder Everson Pereira.
Regardless of who the trade partner is, though, Chicago will probably have to sweeten the pot with extra cash considerations to finalize the deal.
