is back with the Cubs. Chicago officially announced his re-signing on a three-year deal that allows him to opt out after each of the first two seasons. The team has scheduled a pre s conference for Wednesday to welcome him back to the fold. Chicago cleared the nece sary 40-man roster spot with sending back to the White Sox. Bellinger, a client of the Boras Corporation, is reportedly guaranteed $80MM. The deal pays him $30MM for the upcoming season. Hell have a $30MM salary for 2025 and be paid $20MM if he remains on the contract in 2026. The deal contains an approximate $26.67MM average annual value for luxury tax purposes. Bellinger returns to the Cubs after signing a one-year deal with the club last winter and delivering an excellent platform campaign. In 556 trips to the plate, the 28-year-old slashed .307/.356/.525 with 26 home runs and 20 stolen bases while splitting time between center field and first base for Chicago. That performance earned Bellinger a Silver Slugger award and a top-10 finish in NL MVP voting and seemingly left him poised to cash in this winter with a major contract. MLBTR ranked Bellinger as the #2 free agent in this years cla s behind only two-way superstar , predicting a 12-year, $264MM deal for the outfielder in our annual list. As Bellingers offseason dragged on, it became apparent a $200MM+ commitment would not be in the cards. In his , MLBTRs Tim Dierkes predicted a three-year, $90MM deal with a pair of opt-outs. While Bellinger entered the winter with plenty of big market clubs seemingly in the running for his services including the Giants, Yankees, and Blue Jays, each pivoted in other directions throughout the month of December: San Francisco landed KBO star to patrol center, was shipped to the Bronx to fill the left-handed void in their outfield mix, and the Blue Jays changed course after mi Sonny Jackson Jersey sing out on to instead focus on smaller deals for players such as and . That left Bellinger with few clear suitors outside of the incumbent Cubs, though his free agency continued into Spring Training as his camp held out for a long term deal while the Cubs and president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer remained steadfast in waiting out the market. Ultimately, Chicago was rewarded for its patience, as the club will retain Bellingers services for at least the 2024 campaign on a relatively low-cost deal similar to the three-year, $105MM deal fellow Boras Corporation client signed with the Twins two offseasons ago. A number of factors beyond his relatively small number of suitors likely contributed to Bellinger signing a short-term deal. Excellent as he was in 2023, the slugger struggled badly while contending with shoulder i sues and a fractured fibula during the 2021 and 22 seasons. Though he managed to take the field for 900 plate appearances acro s the two seasons, he hit a paltry .193/.256/.355 during that time, a far cry from the career .273/.364/.567 slash line he entered the 2021 season with that earned him Rookie of the Year and MVP honors in 2017 and 2019. While Bellingers strong and healthy 2023 campaign certainly helped to a suage the concerns brought on by his dismal campaigns in the prior two seasons, a look at his advanced metrics reveals some cause for concern that the 28-year-olds 2023 campaign may not be entirely sustainable. While Bellingers career-best batting average last season was supported by a career-low 15.6% strikeout rate, it was also propped up by a .319 BABIP that eclipsed his career .277 mark entering the 2023 season by more than 40 points. That leap in good batted ball fortune came in spite of unusually low contact quality peripherals. Per , Bellingers average exit velocity, barrel rate, and Hard-Hit percentage were all well below average, landing in the 22nd, 27th, and 10th percentile respectively among qualified major leaguers. Taken together, those peripheral numbers left Bellinger with a roughly league average xwOBA of just .330 last year, 40 points below his excellent .370 wOBA. Between his pronounced struggles in recent seasons and the concerning peripherals underlying his 2023 return to form, its not a complete shock that Bellinger would land a short-term, opt-out heavy deal that preserves flexibility rather than a lengthy deal that maximizes guarantee. Such a contract could set Bellinger up for a much more significant payday in the future. As noted by MLBTRs Steve Adams in his at the po sibility of a short-term deal for Bellinger, the slugger is unusually young for a free agent and, as such, may be uniquely suited for a short-term arrangement. If Bellinger can maintain a similar level of production to his 2023 rebound, hell be a near lock to opt out of the remaining two years and $50MM on his deal and return to free agency, where he would be marketing his age-29 campaign and be unimpeded by the Qualifying Offer, which the Cubs extended to Bellinger this winter. Next years free agent cla s is also likely to benefit from additional certainty regarding the ongoing Diamond Sports bankruptcy, which has impacted the TV deals of some contenders such as the Rangers and Twins. Those clubs were joined in mostly standing pat by big spending clubs such as the Padres and Mets that faced exorbitant luxury tax bills last year and took this offseason as an opportunity to reset. In the meantime, Bellinger will return to Chicago, where he immediately improves the clubs lineup and odds of contention in a crowded NL Central dramatically. Bellingers 134 wRC+ and .525 slugging led all Cubs hitters with at least 100 trips to the plate last year, while he ranked fourth in terms of on-base percentage. The slugger also provides a much-needed lefty bat to a lineup who complements righty hitters in the lineup such as , , , and . In addition to providing the clubs lineup with potentially impactful offense, Bellingers versatility offers the Cubs flexibility as they look to incorporate their bevy young hitters into the big league lineup on a regular basis. Infielder is likely to enter the season as the clubs regular first baseman after the club acquired him from the Dodgers in a deal last month, leaving Bellinger to begin the season as the clubs everyday option in center field. With that being said, top prospect lurks after making his big league debut last September and sports 80-grade defense in center field. The clubs reunion with Bellinger takes pre sure off Crow-Armstrong, who went hitle s in 19 plate appearances during his cup of coffee last fall, to immediately produce at the big league level and allows the Cubs to continue his development at Triple-A to open the year. Should Crow-Armstrong prove himself ready to take on the everyday job in center sometime this season, Bellinger could shift to an outfield corner, first base, or even DH depending on the health and production of the rest of the lineup. One po sibility for the Cubs would be either Busch or Morel establishing themselves as a capable defender at third base, allowing the other to handle DH duties. In that case, Bellinger would be able to move to first base and make room for Crow-Armstrong to get regular playing time in center, though thats just one po sible option for a Cubs team that could even see 2023 first-round or top corner outfield prospect debut sometime this year after strong performances in Double-A last season. The reunion with Bellinger likely serves as a capstone for an offseason that saw Chicago also land left-hander and veteran relief arm in free agency. Club chairman Tom Ricketts that the club was unlikely to exceed the Competitive Balance Tax threshold this winter, and projects the club for a $234MM payroll in 2024 for CBT purposes, le s than $3MM below the first $237MM threshold. That means a reversal of the stance would be nearly mandatory for the club to make further additions this winter, barring a trade that clears salary elsewhere on the roster. first reported the Cubs and Bellinger had agreed to a three-year, $80MM contract with opt-outs after the first two seasons. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports. Max Fried Jersey