Yankees insider's ominous Cody Bellinger quotes add more offseason discouragement

Considering there's absolutely no nuance in most Yankees discussion, and both camps default to extremes, allow me to state this plainly right up top: It's ridiculous to claim the Yankees "don't spend," but it's also unfair to ignore the reality that they get outbid. Often. On their top targets.

While bidding for Juan Soto, they got edged out by the Mets in present value, but blown away in perks, bells and whistles. Even ignoring all the extra goodies Steve Cohen threw in, their final contract offer was lower than what the Mets came up with. It was hefty, but it was lower.

In the bidding for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers probably had the edge as soon as Shohei Ohtani helped clear space on their payroll — but we'll never know for certain how he made his decision. If it was based on money alone, well ... the Yankees also got outbid there.

Since paying top-of-market for Gerrit Cole (and, yes, blowing Max Fried out of the water as a secondary option), the Yankees haven't finished first in the race for the best free agent on the block. Hell, they even got outbid for Aaron Judge, who returned out of loyalty rather than leaping to the Padres. And while Cody Bellinger isn't the No. 1 name on the current market, he's seemingly every hungry team's Plan B for Kyle Tucker (sound familiar?).

Surely, after landing Belli as their Soto Plan B last season, the Yankees are prepared to go to the mat for him this winter while letting Option A go to a higher bidder ... right? According to team insider Bob Klapisch, there might be some budding pessimism about even the secondary option on the market. Leave it to Hal "Where's My Profit?" Steinbrenner to get himself gummed up by the money he authorized for Trent Grisham. Naturally.

"Of course, the Yankees want him back. They love everything about his game," Klapisch wrote late last week. "But there’s a strong sense of pessimism about the next four weeks. You could also call it realism — the expectation that (Scott) Boras is about to pull a (Juan) Soto 2.0."

Bob Klapisch believes New York Yankees will be outbid for Cody Bellinger ... just like Juan Soto before him

Klapisch isn't being coy; he's just reading the market — and he wrote these words before the Mets dealt away Brandon Nimmo and opened a hole in their outfield.

A New York vs. New York bidding war may still seem novel across the majority of the country (especially those who find joy in the Yankees coming up short), but once one of these is engaged, the outcome is inevitable. If Cohen wants to remain uncomfortable instead of focusing and limiting his budget, then yes, he'll earn Bellinger, too, and Yankee fans will be left trying to come up with excuses for finishing second. There's no suspense or surprise to it. Their offer will be second-best, and Bellinger can either leave it or leave it (spoiler alert: "take it" isn't even an option).