Still just 30 years old, Cody Bellinger has been a National League MVP, a World Series champion and has played admirably for three of the most storied franchises in Major League Baseball: The Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees.
And still, he hasn’t found a permanent home.
That should change this winter, finally, after Bellinger his healthiest and most productive season since winning the 2019 NL MVP for the Dodgers. He played 152 games for the Yankees, amassed 5.1 WAR and hit the most homers – 29 – since his 47-dinger effort in the hopped-up ball 2019 season.
So, now what?
USA TODAY Sports examines the best landing spots for Bellinger, ranked No. 6 among this winter’s free agents:
Los Angeles Dodgers
Run it back?
That was the theme of a commercial featuring Bellinger and Christian Yelich in 2019, when their battle for NL MVP was in full bloom and the two superstars seemed indestructible. A few months after Bellinger claimed the trophy, a pandemic landed, the Dodgers won a championship in an abbreviated season – and Belli engaged in a very fateful forearm bash after a crucial playoff home run.
He was never the same in L.A., where he was non-tendered after the 2022 season as he struggled to rebuild both his upper and lower halves after shoulder surgery and a fibula fracture.
So began his journey of short-term, opt-out heavy deals that saw him spend two seasons with the Cubs and one with the Yankees, where his all-around game fully reemerged this season.
And now, the timing may be right for a Chavez Ravine reunion.
From the Dodgers’ perspective, there’s just one glaring hole within a lineup that produced back-to-back champions: Left field. They wagered $17 million that Michael Conforto could rehab his career under their tutelage, but Conforto’s .199/.305/.333 output knocked him off the postseason roster.
That’s why the club figures to be in play for marquee free agent Kyle Tucker. Sure, it seems like the Dodgers pay Gucci prices for even the most mundane everyday pieces, but that may not be necessary here.
Bellinger, who will surely want a nine-figure deal that seemed inevitable a half-decade ago, will come for a fraction of the cost. And he’s probably a better fit: Bellinger can play all three outfield positions as well as first base, a crucial bit of optionality as Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman hit free agency after 2027 and 30-plus stars like Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani may need to shift roles.
Fewer outfielders are better defensively: Bellinger’s seven outs above average in 2025 put him even with the defensively elite Harrison Bader and just one behind Gold Glove winner Fernando Tatis Jr. If so inclined, the Dodgers could enjoy Bellinger’s enhanced production compared to what Conforto provided, and eat the offensive shortcomings of Andy Pages while keeping his 11 outs above average in center, creating a truly dominant defensive outfield.
Yep, L.A. Belli v.2.0 would be a pretty nice fit.
New York Yankees
This winter will be an interesting tell about just how the Yankees evaluate their 94-win club. They tied for the division and lost it on a tiebreaker, then succumbed to Toronto in the ALDS. A really good year that came awfully close, all things considered, to a World Series return?
Or a club that maxed out what it had and is due for a 2026 regression?
With that, the Yankees could go big for Tucker – he’ll come at about half the total dollars they threw at Juan Soto the previous winter – and give Aaron Judge a lefty slugger who will bang alongside him in the lineup through his peak years.
Or would they be better off reuniting with Bellinger?
Simply, the man did all the Yankees asked in 2025, playing 85 games in left field, 41 in center and 52 in right, along with seven at first base. That final number could grow with the departure of Paul Goldschmidt and a potential reevaluation of Ben Rice’s role.
Add up the defensive acumen and the 125 adjusted OPS and Bellinger finished second to AL MVP Judge in WAR. Yankee Stadium’s short porch on the offensive side and long alleys on the defensive end both suit Bellinger well.
New York Mets
The Mets found a taker for Brandon Nimmo’s eight-year, $162 million contract. It’d be a little silly to replace him with, well, a left-handed hitting likely left fielder who’d be looking for almost the exact same deal.
Yet moving from Nimmo to Bellinger would represent more than a simple improvement on the margins.
Bellinger is two years younger than Nimmo, far superior defensively (Nimmo at -1 outs above average) and much more versatile. Bellinger could also help replace Pete Alonso at first base, and in toggling from left to center to first, limit the offensive liabilities of players like Tyrone Taylor and Mark Vientos.
The Mets didn’t just snap their fingers and make the remaining $102.5 million remaining on Nimmo’s contract disappear; they also had to assume the remaining $72 million on Marcus Semien’s deal. But Semien immediately improves the club’s infield defense and could be a key ‘cultural add’ to change up the mix in Queens a bit.
Bellinger could check both of those boxes, as well, as the Mets aim to get more athletic and move past the grim 38-55 finish to an unsatisfying 2025.
Seattle Mariners
Oh, this would probably never happen. We include the Mariners in these thought exercises virtually every year and then all they do is re-sign Jorge Polanco or an odd Solano here or there.
Alas, there’s a compelling case here for the Mariners to both go for the kill in 2026 while also securing their future.
Sure, they’re very happy with Victor Robles in right field, and few players are so elite defensively. Yet signing Bellinger would ease Robles into what’s probably a more appropriate role as a part-time outfielder.
Additionally, it will get ahead of the loss of leadoff man and left fielder Randy Arozarena, who’s eligible for free agency after this season.
Sure, the Mariners finally got proactively aggressive this summer, when they traded for Josh Naylor and then locked him up to a four-year, $92 million deal earlier this month. That takes care of first base for the foreseeable future.
Yet imagine a lineup where Bellinger folds in and around switch-hitting Cal Raleigh and righty-swinging superstar Julio Rodriguez, while nudging Naylor a bit deeper in the lineup, where he probably belongs.
And imagine their peerless pitching staff further benefiting from a defensively elite outfield, with Bellinger flanking Rodriguez and his 11 outs above average, with Robles, should they desire, on the other side?
It feels a bit excessive. Yet this is a club that fell just one win shy of the World Series. Why not pile on with the AL West still very much for the taking for the foreseeable future?
Pittsburgh Pirates
It’s probably impossible to shame the Pirates into action. Let’s try, anyway.
Look, the Pirates need good baseball players. Many, many good baseball players. And it just so happens they are closing in on figuring out the pitching piece of it, thanks to the once-in-a-lifetime gift that is Paul Skenes along with emerging young talent like Bubba Chandler.
There’s only one way to turn Skenes’ Pittsburgh era into something less than a death march into free agency, and that’s to surround him with a lineup that seems at least half-serious about competing. Bellinger would plant that flag significantly.
How badly could they use him? Well, let’s burrow through his primary positions and see how they produced in 2025:
Left field – A .624 OPS, ranked 30th (last) in the majors.
Center field – A .664 OPS (22nd).
Right field – Led by veteran Bryan Reynolds, a .693 OPS (18th).
First base – A .734 OPS (16th).
Hey, nothing against Jack Suwinski, Oneil Cruz, Reynolds and Spencer Horwitz. Yet injecting Bellinger would provide a significant boost to the lineup and, probably, all those guys’ bottom lines, regardless of where Belli got his at-bats.
More important, it’d provide credibility for a franchise whose top free agent expenditure remains a $39 million investment in pitcher Francisco Liriano one decade ago.
That’s assuming, you know, that the Pirates care about credibility and attracting better players down the road. If not, cue the Skenes death march – and the laugh track.