Yankees GM Cashman doesn't deny it: Cody Bellinger is top offseason priority
The Yankees' Aaron Judge celebrates his first-inning home run against the Baltimore Orioles with teammate Cody Bellinger at Yankee Stadium on Sep. 27. Credit: Jim McIsaac
LAS VEGAS – The Yankees and MLB's agent to the stars, Scott Boras, agree on this: free agent outfielder Cody Bellinger was an “ideal fit” in pinstripes during his one season wearing them.
Whether the two sides can agree on a price tag, of course, is where the real intrigue lies.
Retaining Bellinger, who distinguished himself on both sides of the ball in 2025, is the Yankees’ top offseason priority, something general manager Brian Cashman didn’t deny.
“We’d love to have him back with us,” Cashman said Wednesday afternoon on the final day of the annual general managers meetings.
Cashman, missing from the meetings for the first time in his tenure as the club’s GM (which began in 1998) as a non-baseball issue cropped up over the weekend keeping him from flying to Las Vegas, spoke via Zoom a couple of hours after Boras held court with reporters at the Cosmopolitan.
“We’re very interested in bringing him back,” Cashman said of Bellinger. “He’s going to have a lot of choices because he can do a lot of different things… We would be better served if we could retain him. If not, we’ll have to look at alternative ways to fill it. But it’s pretty early in the process.”
Bellinger, who played all three outfield positions and first base at an above-average level and hit .272 with 29 homers, 98 RBIs and an .813 OPS, entered free agency in a dream scenario – both his and his agent’s.
In addition to entering the market off a good, and at times great, 2025, there are a glut of big-market teams searching for outfielders this winter. That list includes the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers and Phillies, among others.
“When you look at ’25, I’d say among all the free-agent outfielders, he was the top gun of the class,” Boras said before quickly popping off several more references to the popular 1986 Tom Cruise movie (and 2022 sequel). “He was defensively a versatile viper in the outfield, playing both first base and all three outfield positions. He was kind of, offensively, a middle-of-the-lineup merlin in the sense that he provided power and production.
"The other thing about Belli is kind of unique for a guy his age, under 30 (Bellinger turned 30 last July): He’s played in all three markets — LA, Chicago, New York. So, really, in many ways, he’s an urban maverick, without a doubt.”
The Yankees extended a qualifying offer – worth just over $22 million – to centerfielder Trent Grisham, which they don’t expect him to accept. They’ll receive a compensatory draft pick if he declines.
Regardless, Cashman said his pursuit of Bellinger, whom Boras called “the only five-tool free agent outfielder” of this year’s class, won’t be impacted if Grisham does take it.
“If he (Grisham) comes back, our conversations with Bellinger will continue,” Cashman said. “If he declines, we’ll talk to both.”
Because of a free-agent outfield market Cashman characterized as “very thin” – one that includes Kyle Tucker, a Yankees target last winter before the outfielder was dealt to the Cubs – and the number of potential big-spending teams searching for outfield help, it’s possible his club ends up with none of the top-end options.
The trade market will assuredly be explored, too, as well as internal possibilities in Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones. Dominguez, a one-time top prospect who came up primarily as a centerfielder but never looked comfortable in left, is currently playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic. Top outfield prospect Spencer Jones put up big numbers in Triple-A, where he ended last season, but continues to be plagued by high strikeout totals, an issue since the start of his professional career in 2022.
“Those guys (both) have exciting upsides,” Cashman said.
The GM has more than outfield to address this winter.
Cashman said he will look to add to the bullpen – “We have some quality down that that we need to improve on,” he said – and in the starting pitching market as well.
Three starters – Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt – will begin the season on the injured list and, though the trio is expected back at some point in 2026 – Cole and Rodon before Schmidt – Cashman doesn’t want to risk entering the spring counting on each of their rehabs going off without a hitch, the case so far.
“We’ll be exploring how to protect ourselves so we’re not taking on water early because our rotation is compromised out of the gate,” Cashman said. “It’s an area for us to focus on.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
More Yankees headlines
