Cody Bellinger has exercised his $27.5M player option for the 2025 season, according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan. Bellinger’s three-year, $80M deal with the Cubs last winter included opt-outs after both the 2024 and 2025 seasons, but Bellinger will pass on the first opt-out (and $2.
5M buyout) to remain in Chicago for at least one more year. Bellinger also earned $27.5M in the first year of his contract, so he’ll have a $25M decision waiting for him with next year’s opt-out.
With $5M attached to that opt-out, Bellinger has now guaranteed himself $60M of that initial $80M payday and could potentially be in line for another long-term contract if he delivers a big 2025 season. Of course, Bellinger thought his big 2023 season might’ve set him up for a lucrative long-term contract last winter, yet he rejoined the Cubs for that three-year pact. Similar option-heavy shorter-term deals were also in the cards for other notable Scott Boras clients like Blake Snell , Matt Chapman , and Jordan Montgomery , leading the quartet to be known as the “Boras Four” as their trips through free agency dragged deep into Spring Training.
Bellinger signed near the end of February, so he still had the benefit of most of spring camp, though injuries were probably the bigger reason why the former NL MVP’s performance dropped off from 2023. A fractured right rib and a fractured left middle finger resulted in a few relatively brief trips to the injured list, though Bellinger hi.