Trade Rumors: The Phillies could offer the Chicago Cubs No. 8 overall prospect in return for Cody Bellinger

As the Chicago Cubs dig themselves deeper into the bottom of the NL Central standings, more reports are being released that they could look to trade a few of their top players, including Cody Bellinger, ahead of the July 30th MLB Trade Deadline.

Obviously, the most notable Cubs’ player that would be a perfect fit for the Philadelphia Phillies is none other than Cody Bellinger.

Zachary Rymer of Bleacher Report recently ranked the best landing spots for Bellinger. The Yankees came in at third on his list and the Phillies in second. The Seattle Mariners, who need offense as badly as anybody in the league, came in atop Rymer’s list

“Center field is … an obvious weakness (for Philadelphia),” Rymer said. “(Johan) Rojas only has a .571 OPS personally, while the position has produced a .609 OPS and four home runs. The Phillies would likely be fine if they left good enough alone in center field, but the point of this season should be to be better than fine. After falling short of World Series glory in 2022 and 2023, there’s no reason for them to be anything less than all-in. … It wouldn’t hurt to have Bellinger as a potential weapon for a playoff matchup against the Dodgers. Judging from his 1.185 OPS against them, he didn’t much appreciate being non-tendered in 2022.”

Phillies listed as 2nd favorite to land Cody Bellinger

As the Cubs continue to slide, we ranked the Top 10 landing spots for Cody Bellinger 👀 @zachrymer pic.twitter.com/QMAUFLL21O

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) July 3, 2024

The Chicago Cubs just lost 2-of-3 to the Phillies this week and are a miserable 40-48 on the season. They are in the bottom of the well in the NL Central Standings so it should come as no surprise that they could be sellers ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline on July 30th.

Chicago Cubs: NL Central

In Rymer’s mock-trade of Bellinger to the Phillies, he suggested that the Cubs could receive catcher Eduardo Tait in return for Bellinger.

Eduardo Tait is the Phillies’ No. 8 prospect. 

Tait, a 17-year old catcher is batting .290 with 5 home runs and 37 RBI this season with the FCL Phillies. He’s years away from making any type of noise on a Phillies team that is currently in “championship mode” so getting rid of him for a MLB-level talent like Cody Bellinger is obviously a no-brainer. 

Rymer believes that a return of Tait for Bellinger would the best option for the Cubs compared to what the New York Yankees could offer, specifically with their own top catcher prospect in Agustin Ramirez..

“Though the 17-year-old Tait is further from the big leagues, this proposal arguably has more upside for Chicago than the Ramirez version,” Rymer said. “Tait projects as a bat-first catcher with a strong arm.”

Bellinger signed a 3-year, $80 million contract with the Chicago Cubs that gives him an AAV of $26.6 million. He does have an option for “early termination” of his contract at the end of the 2024 season and a player option in 2025 before becoming a free agent in 2026.

He would be an easy-favorite for the Phillies at the trade deadline, ahead of other options that include Jazz Chisholm from the Marlins and Luis Robert Jr from the Chicago White Sox. 

Bellinger is batting .274 this season with a .760 OPS. He has nine home runs and 37 RBI. Over his last 30 games, he’s slashing .296/.354/.374 with a homer and 11 RBI. 

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