Cubs trade Bellinger to Yanks in exchange for righty Poteet (source)

Addressing his crowded outfield on Tuesday, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told reporters that, “We’re not done yet.” And he wasn’t kidding.

TRADE DETAILSYankees receive: OF/1B Cody Bellinger, $5 millionCubs receive: RHP Cody Poteet

Besides adding pitching depth in Poteet, a 30-year-old who has a 3.80 ERA in 83 Major League innings for the Marlins and Yankee since 2021, the Cubs cleared some excess from their depth chart by moving Bellinger, who’d long been rumored to be available in a trade. The Cubs already had Ian Happ in left field, Pete Crow-Armstrong in center and Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki in right before Tucker arrived last week. The designated hitter provides some flexibility, but only to a point.

So Bellinger was moved to New York with two years and $52.5 million left on his three-year contract with the Cubs, which has opt outs following each season. Bellinger already exercised his $27.5 million player option in November to stick with the Cubs, and has another player option for 2026 at $25 million with a $5 million buyout.

According to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, the Blue Jays also showed interest in trading for Bellinger, helping the Cubs move him while reportedly paying down only $5 million of what he’s still owed.

Bellinger, 29, revived his career with the Cubs in 2023, when he hit .307/.356/.525 with 26 home runs, 97 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. He re-signed with Chicago but didn’t deliver the same kind of season in ‘24, when his OPS slipped to .751, down 130 points from the year before. The Cubs, meanwhile, went 83-79 under new manager Craig Counsell.

So Hoyer went into the offseason seeking star power and found it in a trade for Tucker -- who is coming off four straight seasons north of four wins above replacement with the Astros -- even if that deal left Chicago with too many outfielders.

“There's a finite number of ways that we can really improve as a team, especially on a position player side,” Hoyer said of adding Tucker. “Because in order to get a player that's better than our internal replacement level, you have to go fairly high. We have a lot of good players. We're very balanced, and so there's just not that many players out there that were available that we felt like, ‘OK, this player clearly makes us a better team. He provides something we don't have.’ And obviously, Tucker provides that.”

Poteet, Miami’s fourth-round pick in 2015, has experience both as a starter and a reliever in the Majors, but he’s been mostly a starting pitcher in the Minors, compiling a 3.76 ERA over parts of nine seasons with a modest 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

He was sidelined for much of last season by a triceps injury and went 3-0 with a 3.40 ERA in 13 starts between Double-A and Triple-A in the Minors, and 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA in five games (four starts) in the Majors for New York.