Blue Jays Linked To Former MVP

The Toronto Blue Jays have a big outfield hole to fill after Wednesday's trade of power bat Teoscar Herndandez. And according to one source, they may be interested in a former MVP to slot into the outfield. 

The #BlueJays are one team to watch on Cody Bellinger if he is non-tendered; they are known to have interest in FA Brandon Nimmo.

The Jays want to add a left-handed bat in the outfield, and Rogers Centre is a great place to revive one's offensive numbers. @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 17, 2022

MLB Insider says the Jays are "a team to watch" on Cody Bellinger if he is non-tendered by the Los Angeles Dodgers by tomorrow. Friday is the deadline for players to be tendered a contract for 2023. Bellinger earned $17M in arbitration last season, but for the third straight year has flopped badly at the plate after winning the NL MVP in 2019. 

He still plays stellar defense in center field, so there's still some value there, even when he's hitting .205 as he did in 2022, with only 19 home runs and a .654 OPS. 

Those numbers are a far cry from his MVP season when he hit .305 with a 1.035 OPS along with a monstrous 47 HR, 115 RBIs and 121 runs. But he hasn't come anywhere remotely close to any of those numbers since then. 

But he bats left, and he's a center fielder, so the Jays will take a long, hard look. 

As Morosi also noted, Toronto is interested as well in the top-producing free agent center fielder on the market, Brandon Nimmo.

Photo: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports