NEW YORK (AP) — Cody Bellinger listened to pitches from other teams during his second foray into free agency, but he made it clear to his agent, Scott Boras, that calls from the New York Yankees come first.
It took more than two months, but Bellinger is officially returning to the Yankees. The versatile outfielder spoke with the media on Wednesday two days after becoming the last of the free-agent hitters to reach a new agreement by signing a five-year, $162.5 million contract.
“I spoke my mind to Scott all the time whether it was on any different occasion,” Bellinger said. “I definitely really enjoyed my time. I love playing in New York and I love the stadium. I made that very clear to Scott there as well."
Bellinger’s new deal with the club includes a $20 million signing bonus, half payable April 1 and the remainder Aug. 1. The contract also includes a full no-trade provision.
The 30-year-old receives a $32.5 million salary in each of the first two seasons, $25.8 million in the next two and $25.9 million in 2030.
He can opt out after the 2027 or 2028 seasons to become a free agent for the third time. If a work stoppage leads to no games being played in 2027, the agreement specifies the opt outs will shift to after the 2028 and 2029 seasons.
Bellinger's second free agency was a much wider process than his first. After getting non-tendered by the Los Angeles Dodgers in November 2022, he agreed to a one-year, $17.5 million deal with the Chicago Cubs.
“You work your whole life pretty much in order to get into this type of position,” Bellinger said. “So, you want to enjoy the ride and, you want to understand (everything). You want to take in all these many different things that are being thrown at you.
“So it’s a combination of wanting to enjoy the process and hear what everyone’s got to say and ultimately expressing what you really want and where you want to see your future at.”
A two-time All-Star acquired by the Yankees from the Chicago Cubs in December 2024 after Juan Soto signed with the New York Mets, Bellinger hit .272 with 29 homers and 98 RBIs last year — including .302 with 18 homers and 55 RBIs at Yankee Stadium. A left-handed hitter, he played 149 games in the outfield and seven at first base in his first season since 2022 without a stint on the injured list.
Bellinger appeared in 152 games, last season his most since winning the MVP, a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award with the Dodgers. He also hit .353 against left-handed pitching, .348 with runners in scoring position and .304 with runners on base.
“Badly, Badly,” manager Aaron Boone said when asked how much he was hoping Bellinger would return.
A Gold Glover in 2019, Bellinger also made standout defensive plays in right and left field.
On July 6, Bellinger also made an 89.8 mph throw from left field after making a shoestring catch on Soto to start a double play in a 6-4 win over the Mets.
Three months later, he made a 95.3 mph throw from right field to get Bo Bichette at the plate in the sixth inning of a 3-1 win over Toronto.
“He can win a game in a lot of different ways and that became very apparent to us,” Boone said.
Bellinger is joining a roster mostly intact from last year when the Yankees won 94 games, beat the Red Sox in three games in the wild-card series before getting outscored 34-19 in a four-game ALDS loss to the Blue Jays.
Bellinger has a .261 average with 225 homers and 695 RBIs in eight seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2018-22), Cubs (2023-24) and the Yankees.
He earned $57.5 million from the $80 million, three-year contract he reached with the Cubs before the 2024 season. Bellinger declined a $25 million option for 2026 in favor of a $5 million buyout.
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FILE - New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger runs the bases after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man who once escaped from custody and was on the run for three days after being sentenced to death for fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend was scheduled Wednesday evening to be the first person executed in the U.S. this year.
Charles Victor Thompson was condemned for the April 1998 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Glenda Dennise Hayslip, 39; and her new boyfriend, Darren Keith Cain, 30, at her apartment in the Houston suburb of Tomball.
Thompson, 55, was scheduled to receive a lethal injection starting after 6 p.m. local time at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
Prosecutors say Thompson and Hayslip had been romantically involved for a year but split after Thompson “became increasingly possessive, jealous and abusive.”
According to court records, Hayslip and Cain were dating when Thompson came to Hayslip’s apartment and began arguing with Cain around 3 a.m. the night of the killings. Police were called and told Thompson to leave the apartment complex. Thompson returned three hours later and shot both Hayslip and Cain, who died at the scene. Hayslip died in the hospital a week later.
“The Hayslip and Cain families have waited over twenty-five years for justice to occur,” prosecutors with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said in court filings.
Thompson’s attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution, arguing Thompson was not allowed to refute or confront the prosecution's evidence that concluded Hayslip died from a gunshot wound to the face. Thompson's attorneys have argued Hayslip actually died from flawed medical care she received after the shooting that resulted in severe brain damage sustained from oxygen deprivation following a failed intubation.
With the scheduled execution hour approaching, the court had no immediate response late Wednesday afternoon to the request to intervene. During the day, Thompson was brought to the small holding cell near the death chamber, a prison spokeswoman said. She added that he asked to see his attorney and was offered a meal from the day's prison menu that featured fried chicken, scrambled eggs, and other items.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday denied Thompson’s request to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty.
“If he had been able to raise a reasonable doubt as to the cause of Ms. Hayslip’s death, he would not be guilty of capital murder,” Thompson’s attorneys said in court filings with the Supreme Court.
Prosecutors said a jury has already rejected the claim and, concluded under state law that Thompson was responsible for Hayslip’s death because it “would not have occurred but for his conduct.”
Hayslip’s family had filed a lawsuit against one of her doctors, alleging that medical negligence during her treatment left her brain-dead. A jury in 2002 found in favor of the doctor.
Thompson had his death sentence overturned and had a new punishment trial held in November 2005. A jury again ordered him to die by lethal injection.
Shortly after being resentenced, Thompson escaped from the Harris County Jail in Houston by walking out the front door virtually unchallenged by deputies. Thompson later told The Associated Press that after meeting with his attorney in a small interview cell, he slipped out of his handcuffs and orange jail jumpsuit and left the room, which was unlocked. Thompson waived an ID badge fashioned out of his prison ID card to get past several deputies.
“I got to smell the trees, feel the wind in my hair, grass under my feet, see the stars at night. It took me straight back to childhood being outside on a summer night,” Thompson said of his days on the run during a 2005 interview with the AP. He was arrested in Shreveport, Louisiana, while trying to arrange for wire transfers of money from overseas so he could make it to Canada.
If the execution is carried out, Thompson would be the first person put to death this year in the United States. Texas has historically held more executions than any other state, though Florida had the most executions in 2025, with 19.
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This photo provided by Texas Department of Criminal Justice. shows Texas death row inmate Charles Victor Thompson. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
