Yankees insider suggests Cody Bellinger overruled Scott Boras in contract talks

One universal truth all baseball fans agree upon is that if a player hires Scott Boras as his agent, money matters above all else. Don't expect early extensions, don't expect hometown discounts, and don't expect any preferential treatment. As the New York Yankees and Boras client, Cody Bellinger, engaged in a winter-long standoff, it seemed par for the course.

However, as the Yankees' 2025 season came to an end, Bellinger made it clear that he would love to return to the Bronx. That seemed like pure lip service as the stalemate between the two sides raged on.

Cooler heads finally prevailed, and while the star outfielder didn't get everything he wanted, he managed to get some key concessions, like a front-loaded contract and a pair of coveted opt outs.

One has to wonder if he could've gotten more. Boras has no issue extending negotiations into February, but as January wound down it seemed a shift had occurred that allowed for Bellinger's return.

Could the 2019 NL MVP have overridden the super-agent? Was it true all along that he only wanted to don pinstripes? According to Yankees insider Bob Klapisch, it looks like both are possible explanations.

Yankees insider hints that Cody Bellinger overrode Scott Boras, paving his return to the Bronx

Bellinger's Yankees ties run deep. His father, Clay, won two titles as a utility man at the tail end of the 90s dynasty. Since he found his way to New York, he's forged a strong bond with Aaron Judge. The history plus the new relationships mattered to Bellinger.

“Bellinger’s respect for Judge played a significant role during free agency. Despite having chosen Scott Boras, baseball’s most ruthless agent, to represent him, Bellinger made it clear he wanted to be Judge’s teammate,” Klapisch wrote. “That posed a problem for Boras, who steers his clients to the biggest contracts, not to their best friends. But Bellinger expressed his preference to end his career wearing the same uniform as Judge.”

Bellinger's own comments are even more telling. He told Klapisch, “This is where I wanted to be, being a Yankee was my priority. That was expressed more than once. I couldn’t be happier where I am right now. Aaron is an amazing teammate.”

He'd go on to mention thinking about retirement and wanting to wear the Yankee uniform until his final days.

That might sound disingenuous given the opt outs. After all, if he wants to be here, why does he need an escape hatch? But baseball is a business, and he wouldn't be the first Yankee with no intention of leaving, leveraging an opt out in order to extract more money from the club later. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

As for Bellinger's friend, Judge, the three-time MVP was going through it right along with us this offseason. He made it known he wanted Bellinger back, and he's happy with the results, even if the road to get there was somewhat agonizing.

We don't know for sure if this means Bellinger forced Boras to decline a higher offer elsewhere, but what it does seem like is that once the Yankees came up to a point that he felt was reasonable, he instructed Boras to stop looking elsewhere/asking for more and seal the deal. Now it will be up to him to help the Yankees seal the deal in their quest for No. 28 in 2026.