Mets poke hole in Scott Boras' Cody Bellinger-Yankees revenge plan with trade stunner

For weeks, it's felt like the New York Yankees were locked in a solo staring contest with super agent Scott Boras over the eventual fate of Cody Bellinger. Kyle Tucker choosing the Dodgers over the Mets was the first seismic event to create any doubt in that debate.

Sure, Bellinger had waited all offseason for the Yankees to budge up from their five-year offer and get to seven, and the Mets surely had no intention of doing that, either. Still, a desperate Mets team is dangerous, and their offers lack defined borders. Would Bellinger prefer a three-year, $40 million AAV offer ($84 million per year after tax) even after swearing (through his agent) all offseason that he prized long-term security? It certainly seemed possible, especially as the Yankees' offer never changed and the Mets stayed in the race.

Around 9:00 PM on Tuesday night, Jon Heyman reiterated the same tied-up triangle we've been reading about for weeks. The Yankees and Mets remain interested. Two other mystery teams have made calls. A decision is imminent - or, at least, it was. It's been imminent. It could be imminent? Hey, does anyone know if its imminence has a pulse?

Finally, just before 11:30 EST, a confounding variable entered the picture, as the Mets pulled off an out-of-nowhere trade for White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr., absorbing his salary in the process.

It's much tougher for Boras to threaten the Yankees with a short-term Mets mega-deal now that they've made an alternate $20 million outfield plan for 2026. But ... call us crazy. It doesn't actually eliminate the Mets, does it?

Does Mets' Luis Robert Jr. trade take them out of Cody Bellinger mix?

The Mets' outfield depth chart, prior to Tuesday night, consisted of Juan Soto in right field, Tyrone Taylor in center, and ... well, Tyrone Taylor again in left field. One of those Taylors is now Robert Jr. The other might become third baseman Brett Baty or top prospect Carson Benge. A super team - one that's interested in Bellinger - would be able to stomach signing him, too, then could trade Baty/Benge for Freddy Peralta to front the rotation. In a world where the Dodgers exist, that's far from ridiculous.

While the Mets could easily still be in on Bellinger, it's undeniable, though, that they pivoted on Tuesday, something the Yankees haven't done all offseason. Perhaps they got tired of Boras' antics, too. It's not impossible that Bellinger could still defect from the Yankees after all, but only one team made a counter move to begin the week. It could speak to Steve Cohen and David Stearns' relentless savvy. It could also speak to them being tired of being floated by the man who pulls the strings. The sooner we find out, the better.