The Yankees should pass on any long-term deal for Cody Bellinger. Prove me wrong.

Before starting, please allow me to reiterate one central tenet of this blog: 

Hal Steinbrenner has more money than each of us will spend in 20 lifetimes, and when it comes to payrolls and salaries, his incessant poor-mouthing deserves a midnight visit from Trump's Delta Force commandos. If there is such a thing as karma, Hal will spend eternity pushing a shopping cart full of bottle deposits through some upstate backwater that registers 200 inches of snow per winter. Around here, we've no soft spots for whiny, dime-pinching, nepo billionaires. The Yankees can sign any player, at any time. The problem is Hal. He doesn't want to spend his money.

That said, the notion of bestowing a seven-year contract upon Cody Bellinger is lunacy, a surefire way to continue the Great Yankee Malaise: 18 years without a ring... and counting.  

If Bellinger was ever going to warrant a seven-year deal, it should have happened in 2019, in Los Angeles. He was coming off an MVP year - 47 HRs and a .306 BA. But the Dodgers wisely blinked, and by 2022, he was barely topping the Mendoza Line. He bounced to the Cubs on a three-season deal that let him restore his name and win Comeback Player of the Year. Still, Chicago wound up dumping him to the Yankees in exchange for the great pitcher, Cody Poteet. And now he wants a seven-year deal? Sorry, but... nope.  

Listen: Everybody likes Bellinger. Guy plays hard and smart. Chokes up with two strikes, a lost art for undisciplined Yankee sluggers. Still... seven years? Gimme a break. In seven years, he'll be a china doll DH, back in the .210s, far beyond his sell-by date. And his would be replacements could be shining in other cities. 

I'm talking about Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones. Can't say if either will ever become a star: The Martian can't field, and Jones strikes out too often. But in baseball, at some point, you have to go with your farm system. There comes a time when the Yankees must call the question on their vaunted prospects, and that time is here. 

If the Yankees sign Bellinger, they might as well start shopping The Martian tomorrow. On that note, I'd like to point out that - for age 22 - he didn't do that badly last year: 10 HR, 23 SB, .257. He's fast as hell. In fact, Dominguez hit rather well (.274) from the left side. If, say, the Yanks signed Austin Hayes, (.319 last year from the right side) and platooned the pair, how much more from Bellinger could they realistically expect? 

Listen: I get it that Bellinger is a fine human being: flushes the toilet, remembers birthdays, etc. Apparently, he loves NYC, which is important, because many players do not. New York is full of lifetime opportunities. But if a seven-year deal is the hill on which Bellinger wants to die, I say, let him go. 

Sorry, folks. Hal has too much money for his own good. But players ought to show at least some allegiance to the fan bases that embrace them. (That's why there will always be a special dung heap in hell for Juan Soto.) Demanding a seven-year deal is to drop a future bomb on your team. If that's what Bellinger wants, fuck'm.