After reaching the World Series for the first time since 2009 and losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games, the New York Yankees were outbid for Juan Soto, and the All-Star outfielder left Yankee Stadium for the New York Mets.
The Yankees quickly changed their strategy: they signed Max Fried and Paul Goldschmidt and acquired Devin Williams and Cody Bellinger in a trade, the latter leaving the Chicago Cubs in search of a greater role, and he will certainly have that with the Yankees!
Cody Bellinger will support Aaron Judge
Various reports claim that the Yankees have already officially confirmed Cody Bellinger as their third baseman, right behind one of the players who is once again called to be the American League MVP, repeating his 2024 nomination: Aaron Judge
Star slugger Aaron Judge is the second to stand in the batter’s box behind Anthony Volpe, but he will be followed by a hopeful Bellinger, who wants to assert his prestige in that stadium that he stepped on as a child thanks to his father’s stay with the Yankees, and whom he wants to make roar: Yankee Stadium.
Bellinger will fill the gap in the order left by Juan Soto
And it’s not just a wish without foundation, as in the 16 games he played in the preseason with the Bronx Bombers, Bellinger hit .465/.511/.791, with an on-base average of 1.301, numbers that give him reason to be optimistic, and even more so, enthusiastic, after being placed behind the great slugger emblem of the Yankees.
And Bellinger needed that boost after signing a rather poor season with Chicago in 2024, which is not necessarily the best way to measure him, let alone ahead of a new adventure with the Bronx Bombers, where he will take the place left by Juan Soto, at least materially, as the now Mets player was third in the lineup behind Judge.
A lot is expected of Bellinger, but there is no way he can be expected to put up the numbers that Soto did, so filling the void figuratively is not a possibility.
*With information from Lapresse
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