{"id":1840,"date":"2024-10-28T08:27:27","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T08:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=1840"},"modified":"2024-10-28T08:27:27","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T08:27:27","slug":"phillies-linked-to-former-mvp-slugger-predicted-to-sign-112-million-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=1840","title":{"rendered":"Phillies Linked to Former MVP Slugger Predicted to Sign $112 Million Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-2173243379-e1730076919648.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-2173243379-e1730076919648.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-2173243379-e1730076919648.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-2173243379-e1730076919648.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Phillies Linked to Former MVP Slugger Predicted to Sign $112 Million Deal\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Getty The Philadelphia Phillies could make some big moves this winter to improve for 2025. Will Cody Bellinger be on their wish list?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Philadelphia Phillies entered 2024 with championship expectations. However, their campaign ended prematurely after getting eliminated by the New York Mets in the NLDS. As the club prepares to shape its 2025 roster, could they pursue outfielder\/first baseman Cody Bellinger?<\/p>\n<p>On October 24, The Athletic\u2019s Jim Bowden shared thoughts on potential landing spots and contract predictions for 45 MLB players who could become free agents this winter. He named the Phillies among the \u201cbest team fits\u201d for the 2019 National League MVP Award winner. They were joined by eight other clubs, though. This includes the Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angels, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals.<\/p>\n<p>Bellinger spent his 2024 season with the Cubs. He hit .266\/.325\/.426 with 18 home runs, 23 doubles, 78 RBI and 72 runs scored. Bowden is predicting the left-handed slugger will sign a four-year, $112 million deal in free agency.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Cody Bellinger Would Fit the Phillies\u2019 Needs Perfectly<\/h2>\n<p>Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made it clear during his end-of-season press conference that the organization will be open-minded to improve the roster.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do think it\u2019s a club capable of winning a world championship,\u201d he said, via MLB.com\u2019s Todd Zolecki. \u201cYou\u2019re also open-minded to making adjustments. I think that\u2019s a necessity. You want to get better. You\u2019re never happy unless you win the whole thing. We didn\u2019t win the whole thing. I think we have a real good core of players, but I think we\u2019ll be open-minded to make our club better. That\u2019s really our goal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One area where the Phillies could improve is the outfield. Overall, this group produced a 97 wRC+ on offense. That ranked 18th in baseball, according to FanGraphs. Center field was the biggest problem. Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas, Cal Stevenson and Cristian Pache collectively produced an 80 wRC+, tied for MLB\u2019s sixth-worst mark.<\/p>\n<p>Bowden said Bellinger\u2019s offense has also been inconsistent in recent years. However, he noted that his ability to play solid defense at all three outfield spots and first base helps his value on the open market.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Will Cody Bellinger Opt out of His Current Contract?<\/h2>\n<p>Before Bellinger can start getting courted by interested teams, he\u2019ll first have to opt out of his current deal. After winning a Silver Slugger Award in 2023 with Chicago, the Scott Boras client entered free agency looking for a big payday.<\/p>\n<p>They were looking for \u201ca package well over $200 million,\u201d according to ESPN\u2019s Jesse Rogers. That never came to fruition, and the outfielder eventually signed a three-year, $80 million deal to remain with the Cubs. His deal includes an opportunity to opt out each of the next two years, per Spotrac.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s going through Bellinger\u2019s mind regarding this decision? He was unsure about re-entering free agency as recently as September 27. \u201cI honestly haven\u2019t (made a decision),\u201d Bellinger told the Chicago Tribune. \u201cYou think about it, but at the end of the day, I haven\u2019t really even sat down with my wife and talked about it. And during the season, you just focus on playing, at least for me. I wake up and I\u2019m going to go out and play, and that\u2019s what I focus on. \u2026 I honestly have no idea \u2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, if I feel like I have a decision, I\u2019ll probably wait on it, see if I still feel it, just really feel it out and trust my gut, trust people around me. It\u2019s a privilege, so I\u2019m going to do it with joy and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A lot has probably transpired since he made those comments. However, it\u2019s worth noting that Bellinger wasn\u2019t entering the offseason with his mind already made up like third baseman Matt Chapman was before he signed an extension with the Giants.<\/p>\n<p>Matt Musico covers Major League Baseball for Heavy.com and has been writing about baseball for the past decade. He&#8217;s the creator of MLB Daily Dingers, and his work has been featured on numberFire, MLB Trade Rumors, Bleacher Report, Elite Sports NY, and Yahoo! Sports. More about Matt Musico<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Philadelphia Phillies could make some big moves this winter to improve for 2025. Will Cody Bellinger be on their wish list?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Phillies Linked to Former MVP Slugger Predicted to Sign $112 Million Deal - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=1840\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Phillies Linked to Former MVP Slugger Predicted to Sign $112 Million Deal - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Philadelphia Phillies could make some big moves this winter to improve for 2025. 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