Cody Bellinger, who was the 2019 NL MVP while with the Dodgers, is headed to the Yankees after a trade with Cubs on Tuesday.
Erin Hooley | AP file photo
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NEW YORK — Outfielder Cody Bellinger was acquired by the New York Yankees from the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday for right-hander Cody Poteet.
Chicago will send the Yankees $5 million as part of the trade.
The 29-year-old Bellinger, whose father Clay helped the Yankees win World Series titles in 1999 and 2000, could play center field next year as Aaron Judge returns to right following the departure of Juan Soto to the Mets. Bellinger also can play first base, a position that opened when Anthony Rizzo became a free agent.
Bellinger is owed $27.5 million in 2025 under the first of two player options as part of an $80 million, three-year contract. The two-time All-Star also has a $25 million player option for 2026 with a $5 million buyout that would be payable in equal installments on Jan. 15, 2026, and Jan. 15, 2027.
Bellinger batted .266 with 18 homers and 78 RBIs in 130 games this year. He was on the injured list from April 24 to May 7 with a broken right rib.
He drove in 33 runs in his last 39 games of the season, but Chicago finished with an 83-79 record.
Bellinger made his major league debut in 2017 and spent his first six seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was the NL MVP in 2019, batting .305 with 47 homers and 115 RBIs in 156 games. He also helped LA win the World Series in 2020.
He was cut by the Dodgers in November 2022 and signed a $17.5 million, one-year deal with Chicago a month later. He regained his form with the Cubs, hitting a career-best .307 with 26 homers, 97 RBIs and 20 steals in 130 games last season year.
Bellinger is a .259 hitter with 196 homers and 597 RBIs in 1,005 games. He turns 30 in July.
Poteet, 30, made his major league debut with Miami in 2021, had Tommy John surgery on Aug. 17, 2022, returned to the mound with Kansas City’s Triple-A Omaha farm team on Sept. 23, 2023, was released by the Royals and signed with the Yankees last January. He went 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA in four starts and one relief appearance during a season in which he was sidelined between June 12 and Sept. 25 by a strained right triceps.
WILLIAMS ARRIVES
Devin Williams found autumn in New York so inviting.
“I typically go out of the country for like a week or so once the season’s over. Instead, this year, I actually went to New York and spent 10 days in October,” he said Tuesday. “Good restaurants, shopping. I went to MoMA, the Natural History museum.”
He will get some more time in the Big Apple after the New York Yankees acquired the All-Star closer from the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday for left-hander Nestor Cortes and infield prospect Caleb Durbin.
“Ten days isn’t really enough to do all the things in New York City, so looking forward to spend some more time there,” Williams said.
Williams is eligible for salary arbitration this offseason and can become a free agent after the World Series. He could be open to a long-term contract.
“If it’s right for both sides, that’s definitely always an option,” he said. “Nothing has been discussed up until now.”
He is part of the Yankees’ makeover following the failure to retain outfielder Juan Soto, who left for a record $765 million, 15-year contract with the Mets. Left-hander Max Fried agreed to a $218 million, eight-year contract and the Yankees agreed to acquire outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger from the Chicago Cubs for right-hander Cody Poteet.
Williams’ 2024 season ended with a Game 3 loss to the Mets in a Wild Card Series after he allowed a go-ahead, three-run, ninth-inning homer to Pete Alonso.
“Every failure I’ve ever had has stuck with me, but it’s not something that holds me back,” Williams said. “If anything, it pushes me forward. Every time I’ve failed, I want to get back on the mound to right myself. ”
Former Brewers teammate Jake Cousins called Williams to welcome him to the Yankees and captain Aaron Judge texted. The reliever had just arrived for a workout at Cressey Sports Performance in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, when he learned of the trade.
“I kind of thought I’d be going to LA, that was what I was being told, and the Yankees snuck in there under the table and got the deal done,” he said. “I hadn’t really heard much about about the Yankees’ interest me up until the moment that they traded for me.”
Voted 2020 NL Rookie of the Year, Williams became Milwaukee’s closer after Josh Hader was traded to San Diego on Aug. 1, 2022. Williams was 14 for 15 in save chances with a 1.25 ERA, striking out 38 and walking 11 among 88 batters over 21 2/3 innings. His fastball averaged 94.7 mph and he threw it on 53.5% of his pitches, mixing in 45% changeups — known as the “Airbender” — and around 1.5% cutters.
“I’ve always had a really good changeup, even growing up it’s something that I kind of developed just in the backyard playing catch with my friends,” he said. “The big change really came in 2020, well, ‘19 going into 2020, just used that as time to kind of tweak it and reshape it a little bit during COVID and then it just kind of took off there in the 2020 season.”
Williams switched from a two-seam grip to a four-seam grip in the spring of 2019 while pitching batting practice to new Yankees teammate Trent Grisham and began throwing it more slowly with more movement a year later.
He is looking forward to pitching before a packed Yankee Stadium.
“When it’s close, it makes me focus more,” he said. “At times, I think you can lose focus if you don’t feel like the game is on the line right there in that moment.”
Before reporting to the Yankees for spring training, Williams will have to get rid of his beard.
“I think I’ll probably keep it as long as I can,” he said. “It’s probably been about six years since I’ve been clean shaven.”