The Cubs would ‘love to find a way’ to keep Cody Bellinger long-term

Earlier this month, I posted this article proposing the Cubs make Cody Bellinger a long-term contract extension offer.

I’m posting on this topic again, just 10 days later, because of this:

So. The Cubs are thinking the way I’m thinking, that Bellinger has returned to at least a semblance of his All-Star form from 2019 and earlier, and beyond his ability at the plate and in the field, it seems to me that Bellinger has taken a quiet lead-by-example role on this club. Remember, he played on a World Series winner and multiple postseason teams, and is well versed in what it would take for the Cubs to return to October baseball.

Here’s the full quote from Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins:

“If you asked me, ‘Hey, do you want a plus defensive center fielder that can hit both righties and lefties with some power and is great in the clubhouse?’ Like, yeah, I’ll take that,” Hawkins said. “So, we’re really excited about having him be here and would love to find a way to have him here for a long time. When there’s an appropriate time to have those conversations, we’ll have them.”

Reading between the lines, the team isn’t quite ready to sit down right now and talk with Bellinger, but at some point before he reaches free agency at the end of the season, it sounds like they’ll do that.

Here’s what I proposed in the earlier article:

How about three years, $81 million? That’d be $27 million a year, the biggest AAV in Cubs history. Then Bellinger could go back to free agency again at age 30. Or — a longer deal with a lower AAV but more total dollars, but with opt-outs after two and three years, similar to the contract Marcus Stroman signed.

I think I’d stand by that as a three-year offer. As noted, it would allow Bellinger to go back to free agency at age 30.

A longer contract with a lower AAV but more total dollars, with opt-outs? How about an eight-year, $225 million deal, with higher dollars in the first three years, say $30 million each of the first three years, then lowering to an AAV of $27 million over the last five, with an opt-out after three. If Bellinger is still playing at All-Star level after 2026, he could hit the jackpot at that time in FA. If not — he sticks around for the full eight.

Who says no?