Cubs Rumors: Astros pop up again in another Cody Bellinger report

With Juan Soto expected to make his free agency decision by early next week, the Cody Bellinger trade market seems poised to heat up with all eyes on Dallas next week for the MLB Winter Meetings.

Many of the teams that come up short in their bid for Soto are logical fits for Bellinger, including both the New York Mets and New York Yankees. But his market won't be limited to just those clubs. The Houston Astros, who are facing a critical offseason, have repeatedly been mentioned as a potential fit in a trade.

The latest such mention comes courtesy of The Athletic's Jim Bowden (subscription required), who included a Bellinger-to-Houston trade in his latest column. The positional fit is obvious. The Astros need an everyday center fielder and could also stand to upgrade at first base. A failed pursuit of a reunion with Alex Bregman would only increase the pressure on the front office to bring in another All-Star-caliber player.

Bellinger, 29, turned in a 111 OPS+ and 2.2 fWAR this year with Chicago, his second season with the club. It fell short of what he did during his stellar 2023 campaign when he posted a 139 OPS+ and 4.4 fWAR. Even so, he decided to opt into his player option for 2025, which comes with a $27.5 million price tag and a $5 million buyout on his 2026 option.

That changed Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins' offseason plans, eating up a considerable chunk of payroll and making a substantive addition to the lineup challenging. Bellinger, Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Seiya Suzuki account for all three outfield spots and the DH. It's not as simple as sliding Bellinger to first, either, with Michael Busch coming off a very strong rookie showing at the position.

The industry-wide expectation is Bellinger will be wearing a different uniform come Opening Day. The bigger question for Cubs fans is what the front office does after moving him. They have to find ways to substantively improve the team because trading him just to free up financial flexibility only to not use those dollars to improve the 2025 team will go over like a lead balloon.