After much internal debate and external speculation, the Cody Bellinger restoration project apparently will not continue in Los Angeles.
The Dodgers did not tender a contract offer to the arbitration-eligible center fielder before Friday’s 5 p.m. PT deadline. Also not tendered contracts were Edwin Rios and Luke Williams (recently claimed on waivers from the Miami Marlins). They did tender contracts to the rest of their arbitration-eligible players – pitchers Julio Urias, Walker Buehler, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Evan Phillips, Caleb Ferguson and Yency Almonte, catcher Will Smith and outfielder Trayce Thompson.
The 27-year-old Bellinger (who is in the final year of arbitration eligibility) was clearly the most difficult decision in that group.
Bellinger becomes a free agent now. He could re-sign with the Dodgers for a salary lower than the $18 million he was projected to receive in arbitration. But the Dodgers will have to compete with a number of teams expected to be interested in signing the former MVP – a group that could include the Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins and others.
The National League Rookie of the Year in 2017 and the NL MVP in 2019, Bellinger has regressed significantly for three seasons since those achievements. While remaining an elite defender in center field, Bellinger has hit just .203 with a .648 OPS (and 74 OPS-plus) over the past three seasons. The early success, however, drove his salary up to $17 million.
The Dodgers had hoped that a healthy season following shoulder surgery in November 2020 and a leg fracture in April 2021 would allow Bellinger to reverse his decline. But he hit .210 with a .654 OPS and 150 strikeouts and was not in the starting lineup for half of the Dodgers’ four-game visit to the postseason this year.
Friday’s decision is an acknowledgment from the Dodgers that even their deep financial resources can no longer absorb paying a .200-hitting outfielder $18 million (or more). They made a similar decision when they declined to exercise the club option in Justin Turner’s contract, preferring to try and negotiate a new deal for less than the $16 million it guaranteed the veteran third baseman.
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The Dodgers would now appear to be in the market for a new center fielder. In-house options include Chris Taylor, Thompson and James Outman. They could also be interested in signing Kevin Kiermaier – like the regressed version of Bellinger, an elite defender with limited offensive ability. Kiermaier became a free agent when the Tampa Bay Rays declined a $13 million option in his contract. He was drafted by the Rays during Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman’s time there.
And the Dodgers have also freed up a significant deal of payroll space and could be players in the Aaron Judge market where the New York Yankees, New York Mets and San Francisco Giants are seen as favorites.
Rios hit 12 home runs in his first 123 big-league at-bats with the Dodgers in 2019 and 2020. But he struggled with injuries, missed most of 2021 following shoulder surgery and spent much of 2022 in Triple-A recovering from a significant hamstring injury.
In other moves, the Dodgers claimed right-hander Jake Reed on waivers from the Boston Red Sox. This is the third time around with the Dodgers for Reed, who signed as a free agent with the Dodgers in June 2021 and has been waived six times by five teams since then. In two previous stints with the Dodgers, Reed had a 2.70 ERA over 11 appearances and recorded his only career save.
More to come on this story.