Rumor: Heyman Already Trying to Sell Bellinger to the Yankees

[Brock Beauchamp]

It sure is easy to hate East Coast media. I guess it's technically true that Bellinger would be a good fit on the Yankees but the Cubs are rolling right now! I know he writes for the NY Post and panders to his audience but given that the Cubs play in the second-worst division in baseball, are 3.5 games behind the Reds (of all teams), and are currently 8-2 over their last ten makes a mention of Bellinger feel more like wishcasting than useful information.

 

 

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[jersey cubs fan]

I’m not sure why anybody would take offense to the idea that a sub .500 team that has consistently traded away veterans in recent years would consider trading away a veteran. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 minute ago, jersey cubs fan said:

I’m not sure why anybody would take offense to the idea that a sub .500 team that has consistently traded away veterans in recent years would consider trading away a veteran. 

The National League is exceptionally mediocre this season and the Cubs play in the worst division in the league. It seems premature to start speculating on the team selling in the middle of a hot streak. Are the Reds likely to sell? They're basically a week ahead of the Cubs in getting hot.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

There's demand for trade rumors and I don't think the media is collectively internalizing how non-obvious a lot of teams trade deadline decisions are at this point, so there's gonna be a bunch of 'Team A was bad last year so they might sell this guy to expected contender Team B even though Team A is closer to the playoffs than B'.  That's not literally true in the case of Bellinger to the Yankees, but thematically it's still assuming Cubs sell Yankees buy without a ton of thought.

 

As for the literal rumor, I'll be surprised if Bellinger is traded. Even if the Cubs fall out of the division race while Bellinger gets hot, I don't think they'll get anything better than the comp pick for him.  Maybe with fewer sellers you'll see teams get more aggressive with their offers, or maybe Jed would feel the heat to get more immediate ROI than a comp pick, but I don't see those as likely.

[UMFan83]

I agree that the return would not be anything worthwhile IMO.  The fact is that Bellinger has been struggling since the start of May (.460 OPS since May 3)..  Could definitely just be ebbs and flows of the season, as the sample size is just 17 games and 71 PA (plus he missed an entire month which probably explains somewhat his slow start since his return), but with his recent history of being a bad hitter, if he doesn't pick it back up again soon I don't think he's going to be perceived as a big pickup from a hitting perspective.  Defensively of course he'll have value.

Edited June 23, 2023 by UMFan83

[Brock Beauchamp]

10 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

As for the literal rumor, I'll be surprised if Bellinger is traded. Even if the Cubs fall out of the division race while Bellinger gets hot, I don't think they'll get anything better than the comp pick for him.  Maybe with fewer sellers you'll see teams get more aggressive with their offers, or maybe Jed would feel the heat to get more immediate ROI than a comp pick, but I don't see those as likely.

If Bellinger gets really hot, I think the Cubs could do better than a comp pick. But I think the more prudent move is to QO Bellinger and then consider whether you want to sign him longer term. 

[Bull]

2 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

The National League is exceptionally mediocre this season and the Cubs play in the worst division in the league. It seems premature to start speculating on the team selling in the middle of a hot streak. Are the Reds likely to sell? They're basically a week ahead of the Cubs in getting hot.

Add to the above that the cubs are one of six teams in the league with a positive run differential and the only one in their division. 
 

I mean I get both sides, but I think Jed would be in hot water if he threw up his hands and said, “whelp, we tried” after Ricketts’ very public declaration that Jed has the resources he needs to go out and get guys this past off season.

[champaignchris]

He said “if” the Cubs sell.  I think it’s reasonable that if the Cubs sell, Bellinger is a likely candidate and the Yankees are a possible destination. 
 

We know it’s possible for this team to radically swing the opposite direction from their little hot streak of the last couple weeks.
 

It was just 2021 when the Cubs were 41-33 and tied for first place on June 22. They only won 3 of their next 16 and started the selling with Joc Pederson on July 15.