Yankees’ leaked contract offer to Cody Bellinger tells NY Mets what they need to do

There’s still another outfielder available not named Kyle Tucker who could prove valuable to the New York Mets. Cody Bellinger seemed the more realistic choice all along until the market shift had Kyle Tucker potentially settling for a shorter deal. It makes sense for Tucker. Not so much for Bellinger.

A leaked offer by the New York Yankees to Bellinger came out on Thursday, offering insight into how much they’d be willing to pay him. Their offer tops $30 million per year with the biggest difference at the moment being the years. Bellinger is seeking seven of them.

So that’s the game they want to play. In a career with three seasons of thick bread at the beginning and end thus far and an incredibly thin piece of meat for three seasons in between, Bellinger’s desired contract is the latest outrageous demand. Seven years, bub? It might be time to tack on an extra $5 million on the AAV for Tucker on his short-term contract offer you’re planning and call it a day.

Cody Bellinger is “yearing” himself out from coming to the Mets

You’ve heard of pricing yourself out of something. What about yearing? It’s not an actual word, but if we’re going to talk about made-up things, a 7-year contract for Bellinger comes from a world where the word “yearing” is on every coin. Pennies are still made and one can get you into a movie theater.

If the Mets do anything major for the rest of this offseason, it won’t be signing anyone to a contract that runs through 2032. They’ve been quite adamant about length of contract versus AAV. They’ll give you the money now as long as you’re not an albatross at the end. This is what Bellinger becomes.

Bellinger would be a different kind of short-term settler. He had a really good season for the Yankees and with the coming season representing his year 30 campaign (he’ll turn 31 in mid-July), he’s sort of in the camp where he could go back into free agency again and really make bank.

It’s those lean years for Bellinger which should have teams hesitating. For three straight seasons he was a mess. He’s a really good all-around player with the lack of one truly elite attribute. It wouldn’t be a mistake to give him a five-year contract while understanding you might get one sloppy season in between and a lesser one at the end. Handing over 7 years is asking for trouble.

The Yankees aren’t low-balling Bellinger with a contract over $30 million. Of course, $30+ could mean $30,000,001 or $39 million. It’s probably in the lower half.

Thus far, the Mets have avoided any major Scott Boras clients in free agency. Playing hardball with the Yankees with a 7-year demand shouldn’t have the Mets rushing to make him a part of the 2026 roster. Steve Cohen should be somewhere laughing maniacally, satisfied he isn’t the one having to deal with this. Maybe he can send sympathy flowers to Hal Steinbrenner.