Cody Bellinger: Yankees not interested in a bidding war

Cody Bellinger is the last big hitter not to have found a buyer on the free-agent market. Recently, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, and Bo Bichette signed with the Cubs, Dodgers, and Mets, respectively.

Where will he go? The easy answer is that he'll return to the Yankees, where he wants to play.

However, we know that the Yankees have their limits. At least, that's the information coming out publicly: maybe the situation will change in the next few weeks.

The offer on the table for Bellinger is $160 million over five years with two exit options.

According to Bob Klapisch, the Yankees have decided not to get into a bidding war with other teams (notably the Mets) if Bellinger were to be at the heart of such a process.

The $160 million offer is still on the table.

#Yankees have made an internal decision not to engage in a bidding war for Cody Bellinger if #Mets or anyone else swoops in with a blow-away offer. Yankees believe they've made a fair proposal – five years, $160 million, two opt-outs. They're prepared to let Bellinger walk.

– Bob Klapisch (@BobKlap) January 18, 2026

Are we talking about a negotiation technique (on a public level) to put pressure on Scott Boras and Cody Bellinger? Maybe there's a bit of that, yes.

But let's just say that the Red Sox have learned from Bregman that sometimes, they can get played by putting a limit on themselves.

After all, this is the second time recently that such things have come out. Yesterday, Bill Madden said the Yankees were preparing for life without Bellinger, should he leave.

Did the Bombardiers leak this to get the ball rolling?

The Yankees are “prepared” to move on from Cody Bellinger.

(@bmadden1954) pic.twitter.com/RZ7NpFjgsG

– tyo (@theyanksonly) January 17, 2026

Then again, maybe the Yankees really have decided that if the Mets or Blue Jays were to offer more than $160M, the Bronx outfit wouldn't go there. Bellinger has been inconsistent in the past, and maybe that can work against him…

Now that the other big names have signed, I don't expect Bellinger to overstretch the case. But who knows what might happen…

This content was created with the help of AI.