Uh oh. That could describe the mood these days among the New York Yankees’ front office.<\/p>\n
First, the club saw outfielder Trent Grisham accept the one-year qualifying offer, tying up more than $22 million in payroll for 2026.<\/p>\n
Second, the Yankees watched the crosstown New York Mets signal their interest in jumping into the mix for a free-agent outfielder after shipping Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers for infielder Marcus Semien.<\/p>\n
Last, but certainly not least, consider this update from NJ.com’s Bob Klapisch on the Yankees’ attempts to re-sign Cody Bellinger.<\/p>\n
“Of course, the Yankees want him back. They love everything about his game,” Klapisch notes.<\/p>\n
“But there\u2019s a strong sense of pessimism about the next four weeks. You could also call it realism \u2014 the expectation that (Scott) Boras is about to pull a (Juan) Soto 2.0,” Klapisch adds.<\/p>\n The Yankees traded for Soto in 2023 with no guarantee he would re-sign with New York when he reached free agency after the 2024 season.<\/p>\n Sure enough, Boras jacked up the bidding for his client, who eventually signed with the Mets, getting a 15-year, $765 million contract.<\/p>\n According to Klapisch, some league insiders feel Boras may try to do the same thing with Bellinger: Start a bidding war that the Yankees won’t win.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you negotiate with Scott, you\u2019re not the one in control,\u201d an executive said to Klapisch. \u201cYou\u2019re just flying in his plane, along for the ride while he decides where he\u2019s going to land.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite Grisham’s returning to the Bronx, Klapisch believes the Yankees have enough money to afford Bellinger.<\/p>\n “It depends, however, on whether Boras will play hardball and demand a six- or seven-year contract at $30 million per,” Klapisch writes.<\/p>\n “My crystal ball says the Yankees won\u2019t go that high. Nor do I think they\u2019ll go that high with right fielder Kyle Tucker. The organization is more than willing to stick with Jasson Dominguez in left and raise the curtain on Spencer Jones in center,” Klapisch concludes.<\/p>\n “Bellinger, without the qualifying offer attached to him, should have a crowded market for his services, the 30-year-old outfielder\/first baseman expected to fetch a multiyear contract north of $150 million,” the\u00a0New York Post’s Greg Joyce\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n That’s in line with what\u00a0MLB Trade Rumors\u00a0reported, with the site projecting Bellinger will get a five-year, $140 million contract.<\/p>\n The Yankees acquired Bellinger in a December 2024 trade with the Chicago Cubs. His resume includes a pair of All-Star nods, two Silver Slugger Awards and a Gold Glove Award.<\/p>\n Bellinger looked good in pinstripes, hitting 29 home runs and driving in 98 runs while posting a 5.0 WAR in New York, his \u00a0highest totals since winning the 2019 National League MVP Award\u00a0with the Los Angeles Dodgers.<\/p>\n The 2017 National League Rookie of the Year\u00a0opted out\u00a0of his\u00a0three-year, $80 million contract\u00a0by turning down his $25 million option for 2026.<\/p>\n Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Uh oh. That could describe the mood these days among the New York Yankees’ front office. First, the club saw outfielder Trent Grisham accept the one-year qualif<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":124862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Boras Factor<\/h2>\n
“Crystal Ball” Prediction<\/h2>\n