MLB Hot Stove: Could San Diego Padres Sign Cody Bellinger?

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder and 2019 National League MVP Cody Bellinger will not be tendered a contract by the Dodgers, making him a free agent. Would it make sense for the San Diego Padres to add Bellinger to their outfield?

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal is reporting that outfielder Cody Bellinger will not be tendered a contract by the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 2023 season.

The Dodgers could still negotiate a new contract and resign Bellinger, after non-tendering him. His projected arbitration salary would be in the range of $18 million.

The Dodgers plan to non-tender outfielder Cody Bellinger, making him a free agent, source tells @TheAthletic. Team could still re-sign him for less than his projected arbitration salary in the $18M range.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 18, 2022

If the Dodgers do in fact non-tender Bellinger, he will be a free agent, free to sign with any club he chooses.

Could Bellinger cross over to the Dodgers' division rival that eliminated Los Angeles from the postseason last month? Bellinger would certainly have at least one connection to the Padres.

The Dodgers selected Bellinger in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft out of Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona.

The Dodgers head scout at the time, Logan White, was someone who Bellinger thanked in his 2019 National League MVP acceptance speak.

“I remember my senior year of high school, I was playing first base and I was 160 pounds, and at the end of my senior year I only hit one home run," Bellinger said. "So after my senior year I really didn’t know if I was going to go to college or get drafted.

“Me and my family came up with a certain number we thought was fair, and in the third round Logan White called me and said, ‘We’re going to take you in the fourth round with this next pick.’ I just want to stand up here and say thank you to Logan White, because he really was the only one out of high school to believe in me and the potential I did have.”

That same winter, White went on MLB Network's 'Hot Stove', and was asked by Harold Reynolds about the process in which he found Bellinger.

"I was fortunate enough to see Cody play little league baseball when he was 12," White said. "Actually, he played in the Little League World Series and was outstanding. So that was my first look at Cody and I kind of kept an eye on him.”

In that same interview, he shared that Bellinger, and his big league father Clay, would come over and hit in the batting cage in White's backyard in Arizona, long before Cody was a Dodger.

White is now the Padres Director of Player Personnel and a Senior Adviser to the club.

The Padres currently have just three outfielders on their active roster — Jose Azocar, Trent Grisham and Juan Soto. Bellinger hasn't looked the same since his MVP season, but perhaps he could benefit from a change of scenery.

Through Bellinger's first three Major League seasons (2017-2019), Bellinger slashed .278/.369/.928 with an average of 37 home runs, 96 RBI and 13 stolen bases per season.

Over his last three seasons, Bellinger slashed just .203/.272/.648, batting an abysmal .165 in 2021.

Though Bellinger has experienced a dip in offensive production, he still is an exceptional defensive center fielder.

At age 27, Bellinger could sign a one-year contract, experience a bounce-back at the plate, and seek a long-term deal on the open market next winter. Bellinger now has an opportunity to bet on himself, and benefit from a change of scenery.

Bellinger could stay on the West Coast and remain close to his Arizona home, if he were to link up with White once again, with the Padres. The Padres could acquire an elite defensive outfielder that will be hungry to prove himself and reestablish himself as one of the game's best players.

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