Why Yankees' Cody Bellinger is team MVP not named Aaron Judge
The Yankees' Cody Bellinger watches his ball fly foul during the first inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday in Boston. Credit: AP/Mark Stockwell
BOSTON — Aaron Judge is the clear-cut MVP of the 2025 Yankees.
The rightfielder is a heavy favorite to win his third American League MVP and second in a row as he continues to burnish his Hall of Fame credentials.
But take Judge out of the picture when it comes to the Yankees’ MVP this season?
It might well be Cody Bellinger.
Bellinger, acquired from the Cubs in the offseason for righthander Cody Poteet in what already has gone down as one of the best deals in Brian Cashman’s long tenure as general manager, entered Sunday night’s game against the Red Sox hitting .278 with 28 homers, 25 doubles, 93 RBIs and an .834 OPS.
Those numbers included slash lines of .370/.408/.623 (51-for-138) against lefthanded pitching and .354/.408/.598 (45-for-127) with runners in scoring position.
Bellinger had the most impressive at-bat of the day in the ninth inning of Saturday’s 5-3 victory over the Red Sox. He fell behind power lefty Aroldis Chapman 0-and-2 before battling for seven more pitches, winning the nine-pitch at-bat by lasering a 97-mph fastball off the Green Monster for an RBI double that gave David Bednar a two-run cushion for the bottom of the ninth.
“That was sick,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said of Bellinger’s at-bat against former Yankee Chapman, who has been among MLB’s best relievers this season.
Lefthander Max Fried, who picked up his 17th win Saturday, faced Bellinger plenty during both players’ time in the National League (Fried for the previous eight seasons with Atlanta, Bellinger for six seasons with the Dodgers before two with the Cubs).
“He can shorten up and go the other way or he can take you deep pull side,” Fried said. “He’s two different types of hitters, and you’ve just got to make pitches and hope he gets himself out.”
And all of that doesn’t come close to measuring Bellinger’s value to the club.
In addition to his potent bat, which has provided protection for Judge, Bellinger has started games at all three outfield positions and at first base, playing all four spots at a well-above-average level.
“He is underrated. I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he does for this team,” Judge said. “He can play every outfield position, he can play first base when we need him to. Gold Glove in all four spots. Having him in the middle of the lineup . . . He’s going to come up with some big moments for us down the stretch, that’s for sure.”
Or, as Cashman said Friday afternoon: “He’s a hell of a player. On both sides of the ball.”
Cashman has long been a fan of Bellinger, the son of former Yankee Clay Bellinger, and the son has made no secret about his desire to follow in his father’s footsteps in that regard.
“He’s someone that wants to be here,” Cashman said in December shortly after executing the trade with the Cubs. “I’ve been hearing it for a long time, including his agent Scott Boras saying, ‘Can you get him over here? He’s driving me crazy. He wants to be a Yankee.’ That’s not why I did it; ultimately, I did it because it’s a fit.”
How much longer it will be a fit is a question for the offseason. Bellinger has a $25 million player option that surely will not be exercised; Boras’ clients almost always hit the open market when they can.
It is not too strong a description to say Bellinger has loved his time in pinstripes, nor is it too strong to say the Yankees have loved having Bellinger. A reunion for 2026 and beyond is of mutual interest to both parties but there’s no guarantee it will happen, as the dollars and years the Yankees are willing to commit will have to match up.
All of that, though, is for the winter. For now, it is about Bellinger’s contributions down the stretch and into October.
“He’s been a positive addition, he really has,” Cashman said. “I’m glad we were able to run into him this offseason when we did. He’s really helped lengthen our lineup and improve our defense in a big way.”
Notes & quotes: Judge hit his 48th home run on Sunday night with two outs in the fifth, a 400-foot solo shot to right-center off Garrett Crochet, who struck out 12 in his six innings. Will Warren allowed six runs in the first inning, and a two-run homer by Amed Rosario in the fourth, Judge’s fifth homer in six games and Jose Caballero’s 423-foot homer onto Lansdowne Street off Steven Matz in the seventh made it 6-4.
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.
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