Center fielder Cody Bellinger and the Cubs are in agreement on a three-year, $80 million contract, sources told ESPN, ending a prolonged free agency with a return engagement after his excellent 2023 season with Chicago.
Bellinger, 28, has opt-outs after the first and second years of the deal, sources said. He will receive a $30 million salary this season, $30 million in 2025 (if he doesn’t opt out after the first year) and $20 million in 2026 (if he doesn’t opt out after the second year), according to sources.
Coming off a season in which he hit .307/.356/.525 with 26 home runs and 97 RBIs, Bellinger reached free agency in hopes of securing a mega-contract. A robust market never materialized, and Bellinger took a similar path to that of Carlos Correa, with whom he shares an agent in Scott Boras.
Before the 2022 season, Correa signed a three-year, $105 million contract with the Minnesota Twins when no team offered a longer-term deal he deemed worth signing. Correa opted out after the first season and returned to the Twins on a six-year, $200 million deal after medical issues scuttled agreements with the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.