Yankees Say Hello Cody Bellinger, Goodbye Jose Trevino

It was an interesting few days this week for the Yankees as they continue to revamp the roster, this time through the trade market with a couple of deals, one to acquire Cody Bellinger, one to send away Jose Trevino. Plus, not great news as they also lost out on first baseman Christian Walker in free agency. Lets get to it.

There was some noteworthy activity late in the week for the Yankees who continue to enjoy one of the best offseasons of any team in MLB, and yes, I’m fully aware they didn’t re-sign Juan Soto. I have to give the Yankees credit: They are not sitting still and basking in their 2024 AL pennant, and that’s a very good thing.

Brian Cashman made the trade with the Cubs that everyone knew he was going to make, acquiring infielder/outfielder Cody Bellinger who is a nice fit for a few reasons, provided he can hit. And then Friday night, just before I was planning on going to bed, I had to go into my office and update this newsletter because Cashman made a trade that sent Jose Trevino to the Reds in exchange for reliever Fernando Cruz and backup catcher Alex Jackson.

Earlier Friday, there was not great news when it was announced that Christian Walker, who I thought was the best first baseman available in free agency, signed a three-year, $60 million contract to join the hated Astros. That’s a kick in the pants as far as I’m concerned.

First, my thoughts on Bellinger. The 29-year-old lefty swinger has had one of the weirdest careers of anyone in the last decade or so. He exploded on the scene with the Dodgers and won the 2017 NL rookie of the year award, earned an All-Star berth, and finished ninth in the MVP ballot thanks to a debut season that saw him hit 39 homers with 97 RBI and a .933 OPS.

He followed that with a decent 2018 when he hit 25 homers, had 76 RBI and an OPS of .814, and then put together his incredible 2019 when he won the NL MVP award by hitting .305 with 47 homers and 115 RBI, leading the NL with 351 total bases, and putting up a 1.035 OPS. The son of former Yankee utility player Clay Bellinger was on a Hall of Fame track three years into his career.

And then he just lost it across his last three years in Los Angeles, the 2020 season shortened by COVID and 2021 by injury. In 2020 the Dodgers won the World Series for the first time since 1988, but Bellinger barely helped as he slumped to a .239 average and .789 OPS in 56 games and was terrible in the playoffs. And then in 2021, he collapsed with a .165 average and .542 OPS in 95 games he played.

There was a slight bounce back in 2022, but he was still a shell of the MVP player he was in 2019 and the Dodgers didn’t even bother re-signing him in free agency so he signed with the Cubs. In 2023 he started to show life with 26 homers, 97 RBI and an .881 OPS, but last season he slipped back again to 18 homers, 78 RBI and a .751 OPS, playing 130 games in each season.

In November, he elected to exercise his $27.5 million player option to stay with Chicago because he knew he wouldn’t get that on the open market, and with Bellinger also owning a player option of $25 million for 2026, the Cubs were anxious to get out from that commitment. They put him on the trade market and Cashman, smelling blood in the water, basically fleeced them.

All Bellinger cost was right-hander Cody Poteet, plus the Cubs kicked in $2.5 million of his 2025 salary plus another $2.5 million to cover either part of his 2026 salary, or half of the $5 million team buyout cost if the Yankees choose to move on. As I said, it’s a pretty good trade for the Yankees.

So, what will Bellinger bring? If Jasson Dominguez does not win the starting center field job in spring training, that’s where Bellinger will play the bulk of his games. If Dominguez makes it, then Bellinger would move to left field, or, depending on what the plan is at first base, he can also play there. In his career he has played 715 games in the outfield, 343 at first, and he has done well everywhere as he has just 28 combined errors.

Ideally, I think the Yankees should sign a first baseman and leave Bellinger in the outfield because he’s still an excellent athlete who can cover a lot of ground in the vast alleys at Yankee Stadium. His speed kind of goes to waste at first base.

“I told (Aaron Boone), where y’all need me to play, I’ll play,” Bellinger said. “Whether it’s left, center, or if Judge gets a DH day, I’ll play right. Or if you need me at first base, I’ll play first. It helps the teams that I’m on win and I enjoy doing that.”

Unfortunately, the guy I wanted at first base, Walker, is no longer an option and that’s a total bummer because he would have been such a good fit. He’s 34, and that’s basically the only downside. In his last three seasons with Arizona he won the last three NL Gold Glove awards, during which he has averaged 149 games played, 29 doubles, 32 homers, 94 RBI, and a slash line of .250/.332/.481 for an OPS of .813.

Yeah, this one hurts, and it’s even worse because he signed with Houston and immediately fixes one of the biggest holes the Astros have had for several years running.

The Yankees were in talks with Walker but I guess they couldn’t come to an agreement. At $20 million per year, that’s a pretty reasonable price, but reports indicated that the Yankees didn’t want to part with a draft pick that they would have had to send to Arizona because it had given Walker a qualifying offer, which he declined. Man, if a stupid draft pick turned the Yankees off, that would be pretty disappointing.

I’m not really interested in Pete Alonso who would cost at least double what the Astros are paying Walker, and Carlos Santana, who will turn 39 soon, doesn’t excite me either, even if it’s on a one- or two-year deal. Same for 37-year-old Paul Goldschmidt, once a great player who has really fizzled the last two years in St. Louis.

The guy I’d look at now is Nathaniel Lowe of the Rangers who could be available for the right price in a trade. He broke in with the Rays in 2018 but didn’t get much of a chance there before they traded him to Texas in 2021. Since then, across four seasons, the 29-year-old lefty swinger has averaged 20 homers, 75 RBI and has a cumulative .274/.359/.432 line with a .791 OPS, and he won a Gold Glove in 2023. Go get him.

As for Trevino, the key to this move is the Yankees shed some salary and the hope is that they will put it toward filling the two glaring holes they still have in the infield - first base and either second or third base, depending on where they plan to use Jazz Chisholm.

Trevino has been a solid defensive catcher, someone who handled the pitching staff well, called a good game, and could frame pitches with the best of them. But he has a noodle for an arm, and he can’t hit a lick. Austin Wells is clearly the No. 1 catcher, even though he still has a lot to prove with the bat, and the Yankees will have to figure out who the backup is.

The catcher they received from Cincinnati, Jackson, is perhaps the worst hitting catcher in MLB as he sports a pathetic career average of .132 with six homers and 24 RBI in 124 games. I can’t imagine he’s going to be on the 26-man roster, and if he is, that’s a problem. He feels like nothing more than a throw-in.

Cruz is the piece the Yankees were after in this deal, a 34-year-old righty who didn’t make his MLB debut until 2022, and then in the last two years pitched in 127 games. His ERA was a bit ugly at 4.88 ERA, as was his 1.274 WHIP which is due to control issues. However, he has struck out 36.1% of the batters he has faced and that’s what the Yankees need, guys in the bullpen who can strike batters out.

The thinking must be that pitching coach Matt Blake will be able to get Cruz into the lab and clean up his mechanics which should help corral some of the wildness, and then hone in on his pitch selection to maximize the swing and miss that he provides.

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