MILWAUKEE — Back in Mesa, Ariz., on one of his first days of spring training with the Cubs, Cody Bellinger described what baseball had been like for him in 2019, when he won National League MVP with the Dodgers.
“Amazing,” he said. “You feel like you’re the man. You feel on top of the world.”
He’s about to enjoy that same kind of view again. Maybe an even better one.
Bellinger, who will be 28 on Opening Day of next season, is getting ready to complete a remarkable climb from the depths that followed his extreme early success — including being platooned and eventually non-tendered by the Dodgers in 2022 — to becoming one of baseball’s most coveted free agents this offseason. He might not be another Shohei Ohtani, but, with his powerful lefty swing and top-end tools that allow him to play center field or first base at an elite level, he’s in line for a nine-figure affirmation of his return to superstardom.
And all because of what he did in one unforgettable season with the Cubs. Playing on a one-year, $17.5 million deal, Bellinger hit .307 with 26 home runs and 97 RBI in only 499 at-bats. He was the Cubs’ best hitter and led the majors in RBI from July 1 on, with 75. When he wasn’t exactly the center fielder the Cubs needed, he was exactly the first baseman they needed. He was consistently productive, punished lefties like never before, made fast friends with teammates and eased into a role as perhaps the most popular player in the clubhouse. Mighty good stuff, all of it.
“It was successful,” he said. “It was successful for sure.”
So: Is that it, then? One and done with the Cubs? Over and out?
Despite how well the season went — notwithstanding the whole missing-the-playoffs thing — is Bellinger going to drop the North Siders like a hot potato and simply sell his services to the highest bidder? His agent, the ruthless Scott Boras, presumably won’t have it any other way. Business will be discussed with the expected heavy hitters — the Giants, the Yankees, the Padres — and, if industry speculation is accurate, Bellinger could fetch $200 million or more for seven years.
But Question No. 1 shouldn’t even be about Bellinger and Boras. It should be about the Cubs. Are they just going to let their best player — still toward the front end of what could be his prime years — go throw on some other team’s uniform? Put another way: Why can’t they be the highest bidder? Will they balk and blanche at the very idea, as the organization repeatedly has done under the Ricketts ownership despite the goldmine of a ballpark and the bottomless vaults that sit beneath Wrigleyville?
Before the Cubs were shut out by the Brewers in their season finale, a game Bellinger watched from the dugout, chairman Tom Ricketts popped into the clubhouse and made the rounds. For 15 minutes, Ricketts sat in conversation with shortstop Dansby Swanson, whom the Cubs signed for $177 million over seven years last offseason. No more than 20 feet from them, Bellinger chilled on a leather sofa, the Bears game on the TV above him as he watched a second NFL game on his phone.
It sure would’ve been nice to see Ricketts and Bellinger huddle together and finish with a handshake or hug.
“Obviously, Cody had a great summer,” Ricketts said during the game. “He’s a great teammate. Any team would love to have him, including us. But …”
There’s always one of those — a “but” — isn’t there?
But we’ll see how it goes. But that’s a question for president Jed Hoyer, who decides how to spend his player budget. But the Cubs are philosophically opposed to the “superteam” thing, preferring extended chances at winning to going for broke.
But, but.
“I get it, I get it,” Ricketts said. “We’d love to have him back. But that’s something that will be up to the baseball guys and the free-agent markets.”
If it were up to Swanson, the player the Cubs have chosen to build around — and who moved to Chicago expecting to be in regular contention for championships — re-signing Bellinger would be a top priority. Swanson doesn’t know if the club will seek his input, but he’d like to be asked.
“I think we all understand just how important he was to our success this year,” Swanson said. “You just hope and wish that it works out this offseason for him to come back, because he’s obviously a huge part of who we are. We all want him back.”
Second baseman Nico Hoerner called Bellinger “everything you could ask for from the best hitter on our team.”
“I’d love to have Belly on our team for a long time,” Hoerner said.
Saturday night, knowing he’d played his last game of 2023, Bellinger didn’t sound like someone who expects to remain a Cub. He said the team had been “fun to be around” and that he’d “had a great time.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I think [the Cubs] know I enjoyed it. I think they enjoyed it as well. I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”
An opportunity the size of Bellinger doesn’t knock often.
But, but.
“But the nice part is that we do have a fair number of [prospects] coming through the system right now that could be real producers for us in the next few years,” Ricketts said. “And, on top of that, we have a core, something we couldn’t say two years ago. We have a handful of guys who are going to be here for the next few years, and we’ve got five or six positions locked down for next year with guys who are well-above-major-league-average players, and that’s a great start.
“It’ll be up to Jed to figure out where to go from there to supplement those guys to put a winning team on the field.”
Is that what Bellinger would be? A supplement to Swanson, Hoerner, Ian Happ and a couple of others who might, in their fondest dreams, eventually be almost as good as Bellinger is right now?
Interesting business. Interesting organization.
Hope you enjoyed those Belly bombs.
