Free agent megastar Juan Soto has signed with the New York Mets, which means teams will start to seriously engage in trade talks with the Chicago Cubs. Cody Bellinger has been shopped around since the beginning of the offseason and the Cubs have already turned down one proposal to trade the former MVP. Now, as the Winter Meetings rage on, a source within the Cubs organization believes Bellinger could be traded as soon as this week.
The Arizona Diamondbacks reportedly approached the Cubs early in the offseason, offering to swap left-handed starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery for Bellinger, who has two years remaining on his three-year deal with the Cubs. Montgomery, who also opted back into his contract after the 2024 season, has one year left on his deal with the Diamondbacks.
USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported earlier this week that the Cubs rejected the Diamondbacks' trade idea.
When your boss calls you one of the worst decisions in his baseball career and is angry that you opted back into your contract at $22.5 million, you don’t need a therapist to know that you’re not wanted. The Diamondbacks are shopping him everywhere. They tried to get the Cubs interested in a swap for Bellinger. So far, they’re striking out, but considering the soaring price of pitching, and the brilliance he showed on the Texas Rangers’ World Series championship team, there’s a better shot of snow flurries in Phoenix next summer than Montgomery wearing a D-backs uniform.
I see someone in the Diamondbacks' front office has been scrolling through my Twitter profile.
Cody Bellinger for Jordan Montgomery?
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) November 21, 2024
Yet, that was back when the Bellinger trade rumors first began to surface and when I did not think he had much value based on how the original reports put so much focus on Bellinger's contract. At the time, it appeared as though the Cubs would only be moving Bellinger as part of a salary dump or a swap of big-money contracts.
However, things change and while I won't pretend to know exactly how other teams now value Bellinger, it does feel like the Cubs can actually get something back of value. The New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros have all reportedly checked in with the Cubs regarding a Bellinger trade.
That brings us to the latest on Bellinger from The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma.
While the New York Yankees, who missed out on Soto, are viewed as a logical landing spot, the market for Bellinger is still developing. According to one team source, they wouldn’t be surprised if Bellinger was traded this week, but Hoyer was hesitant to suggest that the Cubs would be making any moves of significance over the next few days.
Obviously trading Bellinger away won't immediately help the Cubs, but it could create a path to making another bigger deal. Cubs president Jed Hoyer acknowledged on Monday that the Cubs need to upgrade the offense, but doing that will likely come through a trade.
The Cubs were linked to Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker by MLB Network insider Jon Morosi on Tuesday. Tucker, 27, would look great starting in right field for the Cubs.
While there hasn't been another detailed trade rumor yet involving Bellinger from the Winter Meetings, it sure does sound like the Cubs will eventually trade him.
Enough chatter has occurred at the Winter Meetings to make a Bellinger trade feel likely, with some believing it to be inevitable. How the Cubs proceed after that is unknown, but there is an acknowledgment that the path to upgrading the offense isn’t happening via free agency.
“I think it’s safe to say that happening is most likely to happen via trade,” Hoyer said about changing the offensive group.
So yeah, it appears as though it's not a matter of if, but when the Cubs trade Cody Bellinger this offseason.
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