Although he wasn’t written out by the Dodgers on Friday, Cody Bellinger There was no shortage of potential applicants, reports Jim Bowden CBS sports headquarters. Bowden adds that Bellinger had calls from at least five teams “within an hour of not being advertised,” and that “several others have called since.”
Since Bellinger smashed an impressive .305/.406/.629 with 47 homers in 2019, Bellinger has seen a sharp decline. Over the past two seasons, the former MVP has struggled through to a line of .198/.256/.355 with a high strikeout rate of 27.1% and a below-average walk rate of 7.7%. As noted by MLBTR’s Anthony Franco, Bellinger suffered a right shoulder injury while partying during the 2020 NLCS, followed by unrelated leg and rib issues that appeared to hamper his offensive performance.
However, as Bellinger’s offensive performance waned, he has taken on a more defensive role. Bellinger reached the majors as a first baseman and has since transitioned to a full-time centerfield role and has received positive reviews from both Ultimate Zone Rating and Statcast. Without significant offensive production in recent years, Bellinger will likely make less than the $18.1 million projected by arbitration by MLBTR staffer Matt Swartz, but will almost certainly remain on a major league roster.
Different in the league:
- In addition to sailors‘ interested in Gleyber Torres and Kolten Wongthe club has also checked in Trea Turner and “all other free-agent middle-infielders,” per Bowden. Jerry Dipoto, president of the Mariners’ baseball operations, has previously stated that the organization would prefer to land a shortstop who would like to play at second base and that JP Crawford is the Mariners’ shortstop. While Torres and Wong are both primary second basemen, Turner has limited experience at the position, having only played 436 2/3 innings at second baseman since 2017. Additionally, all of those innings in 2021 came after a midseason trade to the Dodgers. who already had Corey Seeger. Perhaps more importantly, shortstops have traditionally been paid more than second basemen. MLBTR forecasts Turner on an eight-year, $268 million deal that would break the record for highest AAV second baseman contract.
- 15 year veteran Eva Longoria adjusted his free-agent aspirations with Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that Longoria “hopes to play another year or two and is open to any competitive team.” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale had previously reported that Longoria was only considering the Giants, Rays and Diamondbacks as potential free agent landing spots. Longoria would be a nice addition to any competing team, as the 37-year-old has hit a solid .252/.333/.466 with 27 homers since the start of the 2021 season. However, injuries have limited Longoria to 589 PA and 170 games over the past two seasons.