Cody Bellinger is staying with the Chicago Cubs.
The 29-year-old outfielder has picked up his $27.5 million player option for 2025, a source confirmed to the Tribune on Saturday, and won’t become a free agent. The Cubs resolved their only other pending decision by declining left-hander Drew Smyly’s $10 million mutual option ($2.5 million buyout), a source told the Tribune.
Bellinger’s three-year, $80 million contract he signed in February would have given him a $2.5 million buyout had he utilized the opt-out. Instead, he returns to the Cubs and will face the same decision next offseason when he has a $25 million player option for 2026.
Bellinger’s return represents the first big move of the Cubs’ offseason and provides president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and the front office some clarity on the avenues they could take to improve their 83-win roster. One of the biggest ripple effects of Bellinger staying is the impact on the budget. His 2025 guaranteed money puts the Cubs roughly $50 million under the competitive balance tax threshold of $241 million.
After the Cubs went over the first luxury-tax tier in 2024, Chairman Tom Ricketts told the Tribune last month that the organization is in the same position financially for 2025, noting “that’s really Jed’s responsibility to allocate those resources in the way he sees fit.” Ricketts said the Cubs will play it by ear as to whether they remain under the CBT threshold next year to reset the penalties.
“The penalties on CBT, they grow over time, and so you want to be careful when you do it,” Ricketts said. “And so if there’s ever some point in the future where there’s a large financial commitment you want to make midseason, you have to be thoughtful about it.”
The Cubs will need Bellinger to hit more like the top-10 MVP version they saw in 2023 versus the inconsistencies they received from his power production in 2024. The Cubs’ last two seasons were derailed by the offense enduring a monthslong stretch of futility that ultimately dug them a hole they couldn’t recover from to make the playoffs. With Bellinger now their highest-paid player, they must get more slug from his bat. Dealing with two fractured right ribs and a fractured left middle finger that required a stint on the injured list for each injury likely didn’t help. Both times Bellinger returned as soon as possible, which meant playing through some pain and discomfort as the bones continued to heal.
Bellinger’s defensive flexibility to play any spot in the outfield as well as first base will continue to give manager Craig Counsell options when configuring the daily lineup. But it all comes back to whether Bellinger can produce star-level numbers at the plate. After delivering a .307/.356/.525 slash line, 139 OPS+, 26 home runs and 97 RBIs over 130 games in 2023, Bellinger put up a .266/.325/.426 line, 111 OPS+, 18 home runs and 78 RBIs in 130 games this year.
Bellinger’s home-road splits were drastic, as the Cubs dealt with conditions at Wrigley Field in 2024 that contributed to them being a bottom-third offense at home compared with a top-10 offense on the road. His OPS was 97 points lower at home and his average down by 35 points at Wrigley.
Throughout the final week of the season, Bellinger was resolute in conveying he didn’t know whether he would opt in or test free agency again. He expressed belief in the group and that the roster had been good enough to make the playoffs. Now he has another chance to lead the Cubs back to the postseason for the first time in a full season since 2018.
