It was just a matter of time.

From the moment Cody Bellinger chose to exercise his $27.5 million player option for the 2025 season rather than become a free agent, it became increasingly clear – somewhat ironically – that his watch was in Chicago ticked.

Bellinger’s decision to exercise this option wasn’t particularly surprising given his modest performance in 2024. He had failed to repeat the star-level performance he delivered in his first year as a Cub in 2023, and so it was unclear whether he could command similar guaranteed dollars on the open market if he opts out .

But while Bellinger’s decision made sense individually, it immediately complicated Chicago’s offseason plans to improve the roster. With an emerging young hitter at first base in Michael Busch and an emerging defensive wizard in centerfield in Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Cubs had seemingly found their cornerstones at Bellinger’s two primary positions. And while Bellinger could theoretically play right field, which he did for much of the second half of 2024, Seiya Suzuki – Chicago’s best hitter last season – expressed a preference for playing right field more rather than focusing on DH -limit tasks. This dynamic seemed to put Bellinger in a precarious position at the start of 2025.

Far more important than Suzuki’s desire to play in the outfield, however, was Chicago’s desire to free its budget from Bellinger’s hefty salary and improve the roster in other meaningful ways. That intent became crystal clear last week when the Cubs acquired star right fielder Kyle Tucker from the Astros, moving Suzuki back to the DH and leaving Bellinger without any logical spot on the roster.

Enter the New York Yankees. It’s not just that a Bellinger trade to the Cubs was certain to happen at some point this winter; Plus, the Yankees always seemed like the most logical destination. In fact, Bellinger is now a Yankee, and New York acquired him from Chicago in exchange for 30-year-old right-handed pitcher Cody Poteet. As part of the deal, Chicago also sent $5 million to New York to cover the remainder of Bellinger’s contract. However, the bulk of the money owed to Bellinger — which could include an extra year if he picks up his $25 million option for 2026 next winter — is the responsibility of the Yankees, which was clearly Chicago’s goal with this deal .

New York expressed interest in Bellinger early last offseason when he was a much more sought-after commodity on the free-agent market, but the Yankees instead addressed their outfield needs by acquiring Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo via trade in December. That eliminated an obvious suitor for Bellinger and ultimately paved the way for him to return to the Cubs on a three-year, $80 million contract that didn’t materialize until late February.

A year later, Bellinger once again emerged as a logical target for New York, this time via trade — especially after Soto made his monumental decision to leave the Yankees’ outfield in favor of a historic contract with the Mets. Until Tuesday, the Yankees had responded to Soto’s departure by adding more punch to the mound rather than trying to replace Soto’s contributions in the lineup. First up was left-hander Max Fried, who signed an eight-year, $218 million contract – the largest contract ever for a southpaw – to join the Yankees’ rotation. Brian Cashman and Co. followed suit by acquiring closer Devin Williams from Milwaukee to significantly strengthen the bullpen.

At some point, however, New York had to start rebuilding its offense. It wasn’t just Soto’s massive presence that the Yankees needed to replace: left fielder Alex Verdugo, second baseman Gleyber Torres and first baseman Anthony Rizzo were all 2024 starters heading into free agency, and none of them seemed like one to have planned a return. There was no shortage of spots on New York’s roster, but Bellinger’s addition is a solid first step.

Bellinger’s extensive experience at both first base and center field – a position New York would certainly supplant Aaron Judge once Soto left – made him a sensible target to bolster New York’s options on defense. Early reports indicate that Bellinger is expected to be the Yankees’ primary center fielder, with first base a position New York is still looking to address externally. There are far more free agent candidates the Yankees could initially target than there are at center. So if moving Judge back to right is indeed a priority, it’s no surprise that as things stand, Bellinger is viewed as a pure center fielder.

Even though he was a superstar early in his career and played for two of baseball’s most prominent franchises, he is understandably one of the league’s most recognizable players. Still, it’s important to note that Bellinger doesn’t offer nearly the probability of top performance as Fried or Williams. Bellinger’s recent reinvention of himself as a hitter traded the tremendous power from his early days in LA for a more outgoing approach in Chicago. This transformation has produced wonderful results in 2023, but was more pedestrian last season; His 109 wRC+ ranked 28th out of 49 qualified outfielders, while his .161 ISO ranked 34th. His power production should benefit from Yankee Stadium’s short right-field porch, but his less-than-stellar contact quality doesn’t suggest a sudden resurgence to 30-plus home runs.

Bellinger is a good player who seems to have created a high offensive level with his new approach, but it would be a stretch to call him a Soto replacement alone. In return, there is still a lot of work for the Yankees to do to get their roster back to that of a legitimate contender. First base appears to be the priority in this effort, but there’s still a long offseason ahead of us, and it’s clear that Bellinger’s versatility gives Cashman multiple paths forward with his next round of additions.

As with their deal for Williams, the Yankees managed not to part with any major candidates or key pieces for the 2025 roster when acquiring Bellinger. The decision to take on the bulk of Bellinger’s contract instead is a testament to New York’s spending ability and a recognition that the company operates as such.

On the other hand, there’s no hiding what the Cubs were trying to accomplish here. Poteet was solid in Triple-A and a few big league appearances for New York in 2024 and should help make up for some of the pitching depth Chicago lost by trading Hayden Wesneski to Houston in the Tucker deal . But this trade was about lowering Bellinger’s salary, and for a big-market franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2017, that should be answered with just one question: OK, now what?

Teams in Chicago’s position should only make such trades if it allows them to take additional steps to improve the roster. Tucker was definitely a huge acquisition. He is clearly an improvement over Bellinger, who no longer fits into the squad. But after several seasons of mediocrity, the Cubs need to keep pushing forward. If paying off the more than $20 million owed to Bellinger this season opens the door to additional spending in free agency or acquiring high-paid impact players via trade, that’s great news for the North Side. Until those moves happen, however, it will be difficult to classify this trade as anything other than what it is: a pay cut.

Still, a similar sentiment can be applied to both teams involved in this trade: It was a move that must be a small piece in a larger puzzle of transactions, rather than a key move to build their offseasons around are constructed.