The New York Yankees were able to re-sign Cody Bellinger to a massive five-year, $162.5 million deal.
Not only did Bellinger return to the Bronx, but on Wednesday, he gave the team more good news. Bellinger has decided not to play in the WBC for Team USA as he wants to use it to get fully prepared for the season with the Yankees.
“I definitely want to do it at some point in my career; you never know what the future holds,” Bellinger said on Wednesday. “Don’t think this year is the year. Getting the free agent and going into spring training, you just want to focus at the task at hand. And I owe it to the Steinbrenner family and the Yankee organization to go and give my best foot forward and try and win a championship.”
Bellinger putting his sole focus on the Yankees is great news for the team, as he’s putting aside playing for Team USA at the WBC for a chance to help New York win a World Series.
If the Yankees are going to go on a deep playoff run, New York will need Bellinger to be a key reason why.
Bellinger hit .272 with 29 home runs and 98 RBIs last season with the Yankees.
Bellinger Explains Reason to Return to Yankees
While he was a free agent, Bellinger received interest from several teams.
However, the star slugger ended up re-signing with the Yankees as he was a good fit with the team. Bellinger believes New York also gives him the best chance to win, as a key reason why he re-signed with the Yankees.
“I felt right at home last year,” Bellinger said. “The guys do a great job of building a good culture in that locker room. It’s a very good culture. It’s a winning culture. We all show up to win the game that day. I was just excited to be a part of it.
“For me, I understand the talent that I have on the field. I understand the many different things that I can do on a baseball field, and I enjoy doing that type of stuff. I think I can win a baseball game in a lot of many different ways. That’s what I strive to do. I feel like I do a good job of that. I expect to do a good job of that in the future.”
Bellinger did win the World Series in 2020 when he was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Brian Cashman Credits Owner For Bringing Bellinger Back
Bellinger was a key figure for New York last year, and bringing him back was the focus this offseason.
The Yankees ended up signing Bellinger to a massive five-year extension, which Cashman said was due to Hal Steinbrenner.
“Thanks to Hal Steinbrenner, especially in the Steinbrenner family, they were allowed us to stay in it in a very significant way and the communication level with Scott Boras was obviously always high caliber,” Cashman said.
“So, it doesn’t really matter how long it takes the only matters if you can land, where you want to land and we were able to retain a very important player that we think can serve as well as we move forward and he was an important player last year to the level success we had.”
The Yankees enter the season with the second-best odds of winning the World Series at +900.
Cody Bellinger Gives Yankees Great News After $162.5M Mega Deal