Yankees’ Patience Finally Paid Off With Bellinger Signing

By Derek McAdam

January 27, 2026

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It took the New York Yankees many weeks to make a noteworthy off-season transaction, but they finally were able to retain Cody Bellinger’s services for the next five years, potentially. Last week, the Yankees and Bellinger agreed to a five-year, $162.5 million contract that includes opt-outs after the second and third seasons. The Yankees also gave Bellinger a $20 million signing bonus and did not include any deferred money.

As Spring Training is approaching, it seemed likely that Bellinger and Scott Boras, his agent, were trying to get a deal done sooner rather than later, especially since a couple of top free agents, including Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette, agreed to new contracts. Bellinger was arguably the top free agent available after those two agreed to terms and was likely still on a couple of teams’ radars, including the Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants.

Luckily for the Yankees, Tucker going to the Los Angeles Dodgers likely took them out of the Bellinger sweepstakes, while the New York Mets trading for Luis Robert Jr. likely took them out as well, although I would not have been surprised if they still tried to offer Bellinger a contract.

But with the Yankees winning the Bellinger sweepstakes, it proved to be a major plus for the organization in that they waited things out and did not give in to Boras’ demands. Numerous reports said that Boras was seeking a seven-year contract for his client, while the Yankees said they were not willing to go more than five years and really did not want to go above the $160 million range.

Sure, while they did go above the total monetary figures that they maybe wanted to, I look at the number of years as the big win for the Yankees. I have no problem with paying Bellinger a little bit more money per season than paying him less per year for a longer period of time. The Yankees have seen how these long-term contracts have negatively impacted them, and are currently seeing the negatives with contracts such as Giancarlo Stanton’s and even Gerrit Cole’s. Even though he has been solid through his first five seasons with the Yankees, Cole receiving Tommy John Surgery last year leaves his future potential in limbo.

Stanton is set for his 9th season in the Bronx, and while he has always been one of my favorite Yankees in recent time due to his professionalism in the clubhouse and ability to hit tape-measuring home runs, he has had numerous injuries that have kept him out for weeks or months at a time. He has no more ability to play the field and will clog up the base paths if he gets on since he is one of the slowest players in the league.

Again, I’m not trying to be too critical of Stanton, because he has given the Yankees plenty of memorable moments, but what I described is the current reality. And it all stems around the fact that the Yankees took on a huge contract that still had 10 years remaining. Similarly to Stanton, who knows how Cole’s final three years on his contract are going to work out for the Yankees. If he can even return to 75% of his former self, the Yankees would happily take that.

Remember, when the Yankees signed Cole to his nine-year, $324 million contract before the 2020 season, there was rumors that no other team offered more than seven years at a significantly lower price. The Yankees had Cole on their radar prior to him being traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Houston Astros, so they did not want to whiff on acquiring him for a second time. Plus, the Yankees drafted Cole in the 1st round of the 2008 MLB draft, but he decided to attend college first, allowing him to be the first overall pick just three years later.

I believe Brian Cashman has learned from these two contracts, and many more in the past, that long-term deals are simply not the route to take anymore. And that generally seems to be a consensus around the entire league. Shorter-term deals with higher AAVs are what many teams are preferring to offer since it does not tie them up for many years to come. Tucker and Bichette were both expected to get long-term deals, but both settled for short-term contracts with options to become a free agent again within a couple of seasons.

I also think that teams around the league were disturbed with the contract that Juan Soto received from the Mets, worth $765 million over 15 years. That contract is one that the Mets probably already regret giving, but one that they will definitely regret in just a few years. As big of a fan as I am of Soto, the Yankees were fortunate that he signed in Queens, because he is not worth that amount of money.

Soto’s contract will take him until he’s in his 40s. The Yankees’ deal for Bellinger takes him until he is 35. Even if the Yankees are able to get another three seasons of peak Bellinger baseball, they will happily take it. And maybe he decides to opt-out after that third season and test the free agency waters, clearing the Yankees from the remaining two years of his deal.

But one thing is for sure: the Yankees’ patience finally paid off. Maybe Boras sensed that no teams were going to offer Bellinger seven years, and maybe not even six. I’m glad the Yankees and Bellinger got the deal done and look forward to seeing Bellinger back in left field (or maybe center) this upcoming season.