Jul 19, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger (35) celebrates with teammates after a home run against the Atlanta Braves in the seventh inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Brett Davis
For the third time in four years, Cody Bellinger is a free agent. And for the fourth time in as many winters, we're talking about whether the former NL MVP is a fit for the Phillies.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post recently mentioned the Phillies in connection to Bellinger:
"But the Yankees continue to make Bellinger their No. 1 target, plus Philly and both LA teams are lurking."
That the Phillies would be mentioned in connection with Bellinger isn't particularly surprising considering their seemingly-perpetual search for center field stability. Top prospect Justin Crawford could take over in center field next season, but he's also an option in left field. The Phillies might bring back Harrison Bader, although it's possible another team makes him a more lucrative offer given how the market has unfolded thus far.
Bellinger's most valuable attribute remains his defensive flexibility. He won a Gold Glove Award playing right field for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019. He posted seven defensive runs saved in left field for the Yankees this past year. He's logged more than 2,500 innings at first base in his career.
Yet, Bellinger is such a valuable defensive chess piece largely because of his ability to play center field. He did post minus-three defensive runs saved and minus-one out above average across 306 1/3 innings in center for the Yankees last year, per FanGraphs. So he's not going to be a Gold Glove candidate in center field, and at age 30, it's fair to wonder how much longer he'll be able to play center field at a component level for. But given the dearth of quality center fielders, he's extremely valuable when he's hitting and just playing a passable center field.
The thing is, Bellinger's offensive production has been a year-to-year proposition in his career. He looked like a Hall of Fame-type player early in his career, then had a bad enough three-year stretch for the Dodgers to non-tender him, and has been somewhere in between the last trio of seasons.
2017-2019 with Dodgers (450 games): .278 batting average, 88 doubles, 111 home runs, 288 RBIs, .928 OPS, 15.3 WAR
2020-2022 with Dodgers (295 games): .203 batting average, 46 doubles, 41 home runs, 134 RBIs, .648 OPS, 2.1 WAR
2023 with Chicago Cubs (130 games): .307 batting average, 29 doubles, 26 home runs, 97 RBIs, .881 OPS, 4.4 WAR
2024 with Cubs (130 games): .266 batting average, 23 doubles, 18 home runs, 78 RBIs, .751 OPS, 2.1 WAR
2025 with Yankees 152 games): .272 batting average, 25 doubles, 29 home runs, 98 RBIs, .813 OPS, 4.9 WAR
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It's fair to assume at this point that Bellinger isn't going to return to the superstar form he showed in his first three MLB seasons, but there's even been quite a bit of fluctuation in the last trio of campaigns.
Yes, Bellinger is coming off of a strong season, although his splits between Yankee Stadium — a park seemingly built for him — and everywhere else are at least a bit of a red flag:
Yankee Stadium (337 plate appearances): .302 batting average, .909 OPS
Everywhere Else (319 plate appearances): .241 batting average, .715 OPS
With this context, it might be that Bellinger is best suited to return to the Yankees. He fit there, and since Bellinger was ineligible for a qualifying offer, the Yankees wouldn't get any draft compensation if he were to leave in free agency.
Trent Grisham did already accept the one-year/$22.025 million qualifying offer from the Yankees, so there is a chance they ultimately pivot to Kyle Tucker or a major free agent that isn't an outfielder. In that case, Bellinger is definitely someone the Phillies should consider, but he's certainly not without his flaws.
Though both are actually coming off of seasons where they hit lefties better than righties, given the construction of the Phillies' roster, it's hard to envision Dave Dombrowski signing both Bellinger and Kyle Schwarber. Bellinger will likely only be a fit for the Phillies if Schwarber signs elsewhere. Over on Bleacher Report, I projected both to get $135 million, Schwarber over four seasons and Bellinger across five. From that sense, the two also probably won't be able to co-exist with the Phillies.
The one thing you can be assured with Bellinger, though, is that he would be able to handle the intense pressure that comes with playing in Philadelphia. In fact, having previously played in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, Philly would be the smallest media market Bellinger has played in.
