Bellinger was slated to make about $18 million to $20 million during his final season of arbitration. Given Bellinger’s subpar production in each of the last two seasons, this was a number the Dodgers didn’t feel comfortable paying for Bellinger, leading them to make the difficult decision. The move doesn’t necessarily end Bellinger’s time in Los Angeles. The Dodgers will try to bring Bellinger back for a lower price, according to a source, but that will be a difficult task as the center field market is expected to have many suitors. Bellinger’s expected large pool of suitors will be due to the possibility of him building on what once made him one of the top players in the league. Bellinger hit 39 homers in 2017 and was named the NL Rookie of the Year. In ’19, he hit 47 homers and edged out Christian Yelich for his first MVP award. That kind of production became what the Dodgers and Bellinger had been waiting for, but it became impossible to recreate. In ’20, Bellinger dislocated his non-throwing shoulder celebrating a homer in Game 7 of the NLCS. He underwent offseason surgery that sidelined him for a few weeks in Spring Training. During the first week of the ’21 season, Bellinger broke his left fibula during a freak game against the A’s. Dealing with injuries, Bellinger was never able to get his feet to the plate, finishing the year with 10 homers and a .542 OPS, one of the worst in the Majors among qualifying hitters. Entering the ’22 season, the Dodgers and Bellinger were hopeful of a bounce-back season. Bellinger entered Spring Training excited about his added power. But the results never came, and he posted a .654 OPS in 144 games in ’22. That lack of production eventually led the Dodgers to bench Bellinger in Game 4 of the NLDS against the Padres, even with right-hander Joe Musgrove on the mound. Bellinger will be 27 next season and still plays elite defense in center field. The argument for offering him a contract revolved around giving him one last chance to figure things out in Los Angeles. But with the Dodgers needing to upgrade other positions on the roster, most notably their starting pitching staff, his price tag has become too heavy at this point in the offseason. With Bellinger off the roster, the Dodgers have Trayce Thompson and Chris Taylor to play center field. Mookie Betts can also slip from time to time. They will also be watching free agents like Kevin Kiermaier.
