Former MVP projected for $27.5 million return to Cubs

With time running out to make a final postseason push, the Chicago Cubs might have to start thinking about next season and beyond.

After failing to meet expectations with the seventh-largest payroll in Major League Baseball this season , the team has almost $75 million set to come off the books for 2025 . Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report predicted that the Cubs will be one of the “most active teams in MLB free agency” for the offseason and projects the spending will include another year of Cody Bellinger.

“Cody Bellinger probably isn’t going to decline his player option, so this entire offense figures to be back again next season,” Miller wrote.

After Bellinger posted a National League Comeback Player of the Year Award season with the Cubs in 2023, the team signed him to a three-year, $80 million contract with player options after this season and next. If he opts into 2025 with the Cubs, he’s set to earn $27.5 million. And he can earn another $25 million by opting into the 2026 season.

The 29-year-old slugger has posted a .265/.327/.427 slash line this year, a far cry from his MVP Award-winning numbers of 2019. And while Miller suggested that he won’t find a better deal in free agency, others have said it’s possible that his defensive versatility, age, and award-winning resume could be enough to land a long-term deal elsewhere.

That will certainly be the hope of his agent , Scott Boras, who is notorious for encouraging clients to test the market whenever they can.

“I think he can do better than two years and $52.5 million,” Evan Altman wrote for Cubs Insider. “More importantly, I think Bellinger and Boras think that.”

Bellinger, however, has declined to share his thoughts about where he’s most likely to play next season.

“I told (Boras) that I don’t even want to think about it,” he told The Athletic’s Patric Mooney. “Right now, I really just want to play the game that I know I can play. I want to end the season strong.”

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