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Cody Bellinger was supposed to be the top free agent hitter not named Shohei Ohtani on the free agency market this season. It's nearly February and he hasn't been signed, which isn't generally a good sign. To make matters worse, he hasn't even had an offer yet.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that with Spring Training just a few days away, Cody Bellinger hasn't even gotten a team to offer him a contract. Time is ticking, but they haven't had a team ready to pull the trigger.
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He said:
"Spring training is less than three weeks away but Cody Bellinger and J.D. Martinez still have not received a formal contract offer."
The former Chicago Cubs superstar has had interest from a lot of teams. They just haven't gotten around to offering him a formal contract yet, and there's no indication that an offer is imminent.
Cody Bellinger remains a free agent
There is one thing that seems to be giving teams pause when signing or even offering Cody Bellinger a contract: They're wondering what his true value really is. After a stellar year in Chicago, his value skyrocketed.
Some teams are likely wondering how much of the good play can be attributed to the fact that it was a contract year. Furthermore, his recent form before that season with the Los Angeles Dodgers was poor.
He's been an up and down player. He won a Rookie of the Year award and then an MVP award two seasons later. He was excellent, but then things started to go downhill. From 2020-2022, he was horrible offensively.
Eventually, the Dodgers moved on and he landed with the Cubs, where he appeared to revitalize his career. Clearly, teams aren't sold on the single year of success he had this season and are hesitant to spend a lot or give him a lot of years.
The defensive prowess and versatility never left Bellinger, but teams aren't going to want to shell out $200 million to a guy because he's elite at first base and center field. They want offense, too, and it remains to be seen at what level his will be in the future.
