Conor LiguoriWed, November 26, 2025 at 7:23 PM UTC·1 min readYankees receive troubling prediction about Cody Bellinger's upcoming decision originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Cody Bellinger is one of the premier players on the free agent market in Major League Baseball this winter.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAfter a trade from the Chicago Cubs to the New York Yankees last offseason, he fit in nicely with Aaron Judge in the outfield and in the middle of the Yankees' lineup.
There are several teams rumored to have interest in the former National League MVP, including clubs like the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman made it clear the organization would like to reunite with Bellinger.
But several MLB executives think Bellinger will not return to the Yankees, according to a report from ESPN's Jesse Rogers on Wednesday.
Bellinger's time in New York may be over
ESPN surveyed 16 Major League executives on who they think will return to the club they played last season with.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSurprisingly, none of the execs predicted that Bellinger would re-sign with the Yankees.
"What's most interesting is not who got votes for this question -- Schwarber makes sense as the leading answer here -- but that not a single person has Bellinger returning to the Yankees," Rogers wrote. "He provided some much-needed balance to their lineup, so if he walks, perhaps it does open the door for Tucker in New York -- as respondents indicated in their answers to the earlier question."
Kyle Tucker's name has been connected to the Yankees more than a dozen times this offseason, and he and Aaron Judge would create a superstar duo.
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