Another Phillies Target Becomes Unavailable As Cody Bellinger Gets Traded to Yankees

In an offseason that has seen the Philadelphia Phillies be stagnant, Cody Bellinger getting traded to the New York Yankees is the latest target of theirs who is now unavailable.

Aug 28, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Chicago Cubs right fielder Cody Bellinger (24) hits into a fielders choice against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the seventh inning at PNC Park / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Winter Meetings are over and nothing has changed for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Their lone move of note is agreeing to a deal with Jordan Romano, and while the offseason rages on, this fan base has had to sit back and watch other contending teams load up their rosters while the Phillies have reportedly made laughable trade offers.

It's not a good place to be.

Cody Bellinger is the latest rumored target of Philadelphia's to now come off the market after the New York Yankees acquired the former MVP, per Jeff Passan of ESPN.

This was never the cleanest fit, and it's not quite known if Dave Dombrowski actually had interest in bringing in the slugger, but Bellinger is still the type of player who would have helped the Phillies next season considering he would be a huge offensive upgrade in the outfield.

The package that got this done was the Yankees shipping out right-handed pitcher Cody Poteet, a former fourth-round pick of the Miami Marlins in the 2015 draft who peaked at No. 15 in their pipeline in 2017 before being unranked until he made his Major League debut in 2021.

To get this deal done, the Chicago Cubs also threw in $5 million of their own money, helping the Yankees alleviate some of their concerns about taking on the $27.5 million contract that Bellinger will be playing under in 2025.

That's not exactly a trade package Philadelphia couldn't offer themselves.

If trading away a pitcher with 24 career MLB outings who was never really an elite prospect is all that it takes to land a former MVP who won NL Comeback Player of the Year in 2023 while also getting cash, then one has to wonder what the Phillies are doing right now.

Again, they might not have viewed Bellinger as a fit.

That's understandable.

At this stage of their roster build, they're looking for the right pieces who can come in and help this team win a World Series.

But considering the lack of moves this front office group has made going back to last offseason, the fan base is starting to get really restless, especially because this trade package wasn't anything that would have gouged the organization going forward.