Dodgers News: Cody Bellinger's Agent Makes a Pitch for the Potential Free Agent

The Dodgers are facing a tough decision this offseason. They have a 27-year-old former MVP who seems to be healthy and still plays very good defense. The only problem is, he has forgotten how to hit.

Cody Bellinger is a prime candidate to be non-tendered next week, coming off back-to-back awful offensive seasons and three straight that were far below the MVP standard he set in 2019.

Bellinger's agent, Scott Boras, met with the media at the GM meetings in Las Vegas on Wednesday, and you can tell even Boras doesn't know what to make of Bellinger and his situation, as he didn't have any prepared puns or nautical analogies about Belli. The end result was that Boras accidentally said something of substance, which is generally against his policy.

Scott Boras said it’s “about health and strength” for #Dodgers Cody Bellinger to get back to where he was a few seasons ago. He wouldn’t comment on whether or not the Dodgers have indicated whether they’ll tender Bellinger a contract or not. “Talent is hard to find,” he said.
— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) November 9, 2022

"I think it's about health and strength. We know he's a five-tool player, an MVP type. Unfortunately, he got hurt in that World Series [actually the 2020 NLCS, but we know what he means]. We had COVID in between that, we had interrupted elements. So to get him a really, really solid offseason to get his strength back …. it's really about getting his strength back so he can compete at his skill level."

Boras is exactly right in his assessment of Bellinger. Very few players in baseball have the mix of tools he has. This offseason will be crucial for Bellinger to see, as his agent said, where he can "get his strength back." The Dodgers have a little over a week before they have to make a decision on Belli, so he's basically in an extended tryout at Camelback Ranch right now.

It's hard to see the Dodgers cutting loose a 27-year-old with Bellinger's talent, but it's also hard to see them paying someone $17 million to be well below-average offensively, no matter how good his defense is.