Dodgers: MLB Insider Says AL East Team Could Go After Cody Bellinger if He Becomes Available
The Dodgers have until Friday afternoon to decide whether to offer center-fielder Cody Bellinger a contract for 2023, his final year of arbitration eligibility. He's due to make about $17-18 million in arbitration, and if Los Angeles decides they don't want to pay him that much, they could non-tender him and make him a free agent a year early.
If that happens, it wouldn't necessarily mean the end of Bellinger's time in L.A., as the team could still try to bring him back on a lesser contract. But if his time with the Dodgers does come to an end, MLB insider Jon Morosi has an idea on a team that might be interested in the former MVP.
The Blue Jays just traded Teoscar Hernandez to the Mariners and DFA'd Raimel Tapia and Bradley Zimmer, and they currently have just Lourdes Gurriel, George Springer, and Whit Merrifield in their outfield. So there's room for Bellinger in their outfield, if they decide there's a fit.
The question is whether a team hoping to contend — Toronto just made the postseason for only the second time in the last six years — would be interested in taking on a reclamation project like Bellinger. It's a high-risk approach in a tough division, so a lot of it would likely come down to cost.
If L.A. does non-tender Bellinger, it will be fascinating to see how much he ends up getting on the open market. It wouldn't be anywhere near the $18 million he's projected for in arbitration, presumably, but the talent and youth are there where a team might be willing to take a somewhat expensive risk that they can help him rediscover his MVP self.
