Red Sox fans are eagerly waiting for Yankees to get burned by Cody Bellinger

As 2025 turned into 2026, we learned from The New York Post's Jon Heyman that the New York Yankees "submitted a formal offer" to Cody Bellinger. News of a second offer a few days later suggested that the Yankees and Bellinger's agent, Scott Boras, are playing cat and mouse.

Boston Red Sox fans are familiar with Boras' tactics. Alex Bregman, another Boras client, remains unsigned despite the Red Sox reportedly having made an "aggressive" offer. As Boston fans await Bregman's fate, it sure would delight them to see Bellinger slip through the Yankees' hands in the meantime.

Cody Bellinger spurning the Yankees' offer for the Mets or Dodgers would have Red Sox fans smiling from ear to ear

We've heard all offseason long that the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers are also in on Bellinger. Boras will no doubt leverage Belli's powerful suitors against one another. Having turned down the first offer from Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, Boras is likely sharing the details of Cashman's second offer with the Mets and Dodgers and asking them if they're interested in anteing up.

It's a waiting game, just like it is for Bregman. Boras would surely love to see Kyle Tucker sign somewhere soon, which would both inform the market (likely in Bellinger's favor) and take another star outfielder off the table for the teams in need of one (hint: Tucker and Bellinger are the only ones available).

It feels like a bidding war the Yankees are destined to win, not because they've been killing it this offseason, but because they haven't. If Cashman misses out on Bellinger after such an underwhelming last couple of months, Yankees fans will pretty much riot in the Bronx.

Sure, the Yanks have guys like Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones to hold down the fort alongside Aaron Judge and Trent Grisham in 2026, but is Cashman really going to descend to that level? He's been saying since the Winter Meetings that Bellinger is a priority, and December intel from Heyman indicated that the Yankees weren't worried about losing Belli to another suitor.

Then again, Cashman does have a bad habit of failing to sign big free agents or execute blockbuster trades after presenting an initial offer or showing interest. It most recently happened with Juan Soto, but it's also happened in recent years with Gerrit Cole (failed trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2017), Zack Wheeler, Bryce Harper, Shohei Ohtani, and Max Scherzer.

Red Sox fans are hoping that Cashman reverts to this habit with Bellinger if and when he hears from Boras that either the Mets or Dodgers have raised the stakes. At a certain point, will Cashman decide to bow out of the Bellinger sweepstakes? If so, a collective cackle will erupt across Boston.