Cubs Rumors: Jed Hoyer wanted no part of this bad contract in a Cody Bellinger trade

Several weeks ago, I worked through a thought exercise on a potential 'bad contract' swap between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs. The deal would send Cody Bellinger to the desert in exchange for veteran left-hander Jordan Montgomery.

It turned out to be more than a thought exercise. The Diamondbacks reportedly proposed the idea to Jed Hoyer, who passed on it and wound up inking free agent left-hander Matthew Boyd shortly tafter that all but guaranteeing this deal never comes to fruition.

Montgomery, a World Series star for the Texas Rangers in 2023, had a disastrous free-agent experience a year ago and settled for a one-year, $25 million deal with Arizona with a $25 million player option for 2025. After a truly disastrous season (-1.7 bWAR, 1.650 WHIP, 6.23 ERA), he had no choice but to opt in for next season, even after Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick called signing Montgomery a 'horrible decision'.

Maybe this could have worked in some fashion prior to the Boyd signing. But given how left-handed heavy the rotation is now (Imanaga, Steele, Boyd and, potentially, Wicks), and with the nearly $30 million spent on Boyd, it's dead in the water.

That same report from USA Today's Bob Nightengale, says Bellinger will 'definitely' be traded, but it may take some time before a team steps up with a willingness to eat the potential $52.5 million (assuming he opts in for 2026) left on his deal.

Given where Juan Soto's market has reached (rumored to be north of $700 million), I think a team like the Yankees could easily pivot to Bellinger - what a deal looks like totally depends on what Hoyer is looking for: is he just desperate to clear the money off the books or does he want something valuable in return?

If it's a late-winter, early-spring trade, it's worth asking what the Cubs would even do with that payroll flexibility anyway. Most of the top free agents will have new homes by that point and if they aren't re-allocating that money, it's hard to imagine how the roster is improved by trading Bellinger this winter.