Cody Bellinger Contract Comes With Higher Luxury Tax Hit For Yankees In First Two Seasons

The Yankees finalized their five-year, $162.5MM contract with Cody Bellinger last week. That only comes into play with a contract that is front-loaded before a player option year or opt-out clause. That applies to the Bellinger contract, which allows him to opt out after the second or third seasons. The deal comes with respective $25.8MM, $25.8MM and $25.9MM salaries for the final three years if Bellinger does not opt out. For CBA purposes, all three years after the opt-out are treated as player option years because Bellinger decides whether to stick with the contract.