Blue Jays Emerge as Favorites to Sign Cody Bellinger, Putting Pressure on Cubs

It would seem that Scott Boras is doing his best to ignite the Chicago Cubs' off-season.

Over the weekend, Boras went on 670 The Score and professed how Bellinger is an MVP-caliber player and it's not often that a player of his stature becomes available. Along those lines, Boras correctly pointed out the need that Cubs have.

To remind everyone, the Cubs are a far worse team today than they were at the end of the 2023 season. The Cubs' current roster does not include Bellinger in addition to Jeimer Candelario and starting pitcher Marcus Stroman. If the Cubs bring Bellinger back, they still arguably would be a worse team now than they were at the end of September.

A day after Boras held court, Bob Nightengale of USA Today provided an update on Bellinger's market.

"The Toronto Blue Jays have emerged as the favorite for Cody Bellinger with the Cubs still in the hunt."

- USA Today

After falling just short in their pursuit of Shohei Ohtani, the Blue Jays are left with money to spend and a need for a left-handed bat. Bellinger would be a near-perfect fit for the Blue Jays with Toronto also being the likeliest of teams to meet the 2023 National League Comeback Player of the Year's asking price.

This is not to say that the Blue Jays aren't the favorites to sign Bellinger, if they are indeed willing to meet his demands, they should be considered the favorites; but, this reporting gives the impression that Boras is itching for the Cubs to have more urgency.

Boras knew what he was doing when he went on the radio home of the Cubs and made his presentation for why Bellinger should be a priority for the team. Boras also knew what he was doing when he likely leaked to Nightengale that the Blue Jays are the favorites for Bellinger.

Boras needs the Cubs to be involved and he needs them to have a sense of urgency. The Cubs aren't going to match Bellinger's price of a deal that exceeds $200MM but the leak regarding the Blue Jays are the current favorites may be a sign that no team has shown a willingness at this point. Otherwise, it's likely we would have had a deal by now between the Blue Jays and Bellinger.

Regardless, the Cubs remain in a holding pattern as they wait for the first domino of their off-season to drop.

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