Yankees fans hoping for an offseason pivot from Cody Bellinger are out of luck

The New York Yankees and Cody Bellinger have reached what seems to be an insurmountable sticking point. The highly decorated outfielder reportedly wants his seven-year, big-money deal, and the Yankees have drawn their line in the sand and refuse to rise to his terms.

That should have the Yankees willing to look at other alternatives, right? After all, they've at least been linked to Bo Bichette, and if they need to pivot away from Bellinger, the only other top outfielder in free agency is Kyle Tucker.

However, it's not that simple. There have been some discrepancies in the reports about how serious the Yankees are about Bichette. Rumors connecting them to Tucker have been almost nonexistent. There's a reason why, and it's not one that the fans will like.

Money is the reason why the Yankees won't pivot from Cody Bellinger to another top free-agent star

Think about it for a second. Of the three big bats remaining, Bellinger is supposedly the cheapest. He's the oldest of the trio, has had the most volatile career of the three, and has some questionable underlying metrics that could spell trouble.

He's supposed to be the discount option. We've long heard about $400 million being a possibility for Tucker, and while that might not happen, he will be expensive. Bichette is reportedly seeking upwards of $300 million.

If the Yankees were unwilling to meet the $37 million AAV over seven years— roughly $260 million — that Bellinger allegedly desires, do you really think that means they'll pay more for an alternative?

The argument that Tucker and Bichette are superior players, thus justifying paying the higher price, doesn't hold water. Look at what the Yankees have done (or better said, not done) this offseason. Even more pertinent, if the Yankees truly felt that Tucker/Bichette were better values even at higher price tags, why wouldn't they have pursued them first and kept Bellinger as the fallback?

That's because the Yankees don't really want to outlay that type of cash. For anyone. It doesn't matter how good they are. They targeted Bellinger because they believed they could get him at their price and he would be good enough to bolster their lineup. He wasn't at the top of the wishlist because they legitimately thought he was a better player than Tucker or Bichette.

Now, Tucker isn't an option. Bichette was nothing more than a leverage play. New York is stuck waiting around for Bellinger (and Scott Boras) to come to his senses, meanwhile, they'll have to hope that some other team doesn't get an itchy trigger finger and give into his absurd demands in order to steal him away.