Sources: Yankees, Cody Bellinger end stalemate with 5-year deal

The New York Yankees and outfielder Cody Bellinger are in agreement on a five-year, $162.5 million contract, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Wednesday, ending a standoff between two sides that preferred to reunite all winter long.

The deal includes opt-outs after the second and third seasons, a $20 million signing bonus and a full no-trade clause, sources said.

Bellinger figures to slot back in as the Yankees’ primary left fielder — he started more games there (59) than anywhere else last season — and dislodge Jasson Dominguez from an every-day role.

Yankees officials publicly insisted that they were ready to have the switch-hitting Dominguez, a former top prospect, become their every-day left fielder despite significant defensive lapses and struggles hitting right-handed pitching in his rookie year. But retaining Bellinger was a priority from the start of the offseason, once he declined a $25 million player option for 2026 and became a free agent after thriving in his first season in the Bronx.

Hitting behind Aaron Judge most of the year, Bellinger batted .272 with 29 home runs and an .813 OPS in 152 games. He was especially productive against left-handed pitching and led all left-handed hitters in on-base percentage (.415) and slugging (.601) against left-handed pitchers.

He was also one of the sport’s top defenders: Bellinger accumulated seven outs above average and eight defensive runs saved between the three outfield positions and first base. His 4.9 fWAR was tied with National League MVP runner-up Kyle Schwarber for 18th in the majors and was the second best of his career only to the 7.8 fWAR he compiled during his 2019 MVP season.

Bellinger, represented by agent Scott Boras, hoped to convert the successful showing into a seven-year contract entering his age-30 season. He had held firm on the demand in recent weeks while the Yankees refused to budge from their five-year offer.

For Bellinger, the agreement is the largest payday of his major league career, a nine-year odyssey across the country’s three largest markets with extraordinary peaks and valleys.

He broke into the majors with the Los Angeles Dodgers and found immediate success, winning the 2017 National League Rookie of the Year Award. Two years later, he was named the NL MVP.

Then his career, after injuring his shoulder celebrating a home run during the 2020 World Series, crashed. For the next three seasons, after undergoing surgery to repair the labrum in his right shoulder and battling various other injuries, Bellinger batted .203 with a .648 OPS and 2.1 fWAR across 295 games.

The performance resulted in the Dodgers not tendering him a contract after the 2022 season — three years removed from swatting 47 home runs with a 1.035 OPS and 7.8 fWAR to win MVP in a tight race over Christian Yelich.

Bellinger landed with the Chicago Cubs on a one-year contract worth $17.5 million guaranteed later that offseason. Finally healthy, he bounced back in his new surroundings and batted .307 with 26 home runs and an .881 OPS, good enough for 10th in NL MVP voting. But a long-term contract never surfaced, and he instead re-signed on a three-year, $80 million contract with player opt-out clauses after the first and second years.

Last December, after Bellinger regressed in 2024, the Cubs traded him to the Yankees for right-hander Cody Poteet. The Cubs sought salary relief days after acquiring Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros. The Yankees sought an outfielder as part of their swift pivot away from Juan Soto.

Bellinger wound up, as calculated by fWAR, becoming their second-most-valuable player with an all-around skill set that shined in New York and convinced the organization he was worth the investment.

He is the fifth player the Yankees have re-signed this offseason, following outfielder Trent Grisham, left-hander Ryan Yarbrough, utility man Amed Rosario and right-hander Paul Blackburn.