Cody Bellinger next team odds: Blue Jays are the betting favourites to land former MVP

The biggest free agent is off the board but plenty of intriguing names remain, including outfielder Cody Bellinger.

The latest: Bellinger's 2023 bounce-back season has set him up for a big payday in a weak free-agent class. There figures to be significant interest in the streaky hitter, who's currently favoured to land with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Here are our latest Bellinger next team odds as of December 13.

Bellinger next team odds

MLB oddsas of 4:05 p.m. ET on 12/13/2023.

Bellinger next team odds: Blue Jays are the betting favourite

These odds are short but the Blue Jays are an obvious fit for Bellinger.

They missed out on Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto before the San Francisco Giants signed Korean star Jung Hoo Lee. The number of impact bats remaining, at least on the free-agent market, is limited. Bellinger is comfortably the biggest upside-bat left.

The 28-year-old is not without risk after disastrous seasons in 2021 and 2022 (combined .193 average and .611 OPS), but the 2019 NL MVP did respond in a big way during his walk year.

Bellinger hit a robust .307/.356/.525 with 26 homers (his most since his MVP year) and a career-high 20 stolen bases last season. He is a versatile, left-handed hitter who played both first base and center field and was worth 4.1 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs.

In a perfect world, he checks off several boxes for the type of player that the righty-heavy Blue Jays could use.

On top of his rollercoaster career, Bellinger's batted ball profile last season is rightfully concerning — he was in the bottom-10 percentile in hard-hit rate and had a career-worst exit velocity, according to Baseball Savant — but there was plenty to like as well.

That includes a career-low strikeout rate (15.6%) as the league-average K rate was north of 20% for the 10th consecutive season. 

Bellinger might be far removed from his 47-homer, 1.035-OPS MVP season, but interested teams are hoping he's just as far removed from his days of hitting rock bottom.

Other contenders to sign Bellinger

Cubs (+200): The Cubs just saw what Bellinger has to offer and they make sense as a team that arrived sooner than expected last season. 

ZIPS projected Chicago to finish with 78 wins but a strong July and August, before fizzling out in September, saw the Cubs reach the 83-win mark. They flirted with postseason contention and finished with their most wins since the 2019 season. 

They've already gambled on him once, though it was on a safe, one-year contract worth $17.5 million.

For what it's worth, FanGraphs and MLB Trade Rumors project a significantly higher AAV for Bellinger this offseason. FanGraphs' estimates come in around six years and $150 million for Bellinger's next contract, while MLBTR's best guess is $264 million over 12 years, which seems excessive.

Without many clubs listed, any other team at +325 has some value in this market, considering that would include the two big-spending clubs in New York, among others.