CHICAGO – The Cody Bellinger sweepstakes could play out deep into this offseason, but there was a procedural step for the Cubs to check off early in the free-agent process.

On Monday, the Cubs extended Bellinger a one-year qualifying offer worth $20.325 million for the 2024 season. The star center fielder is expected to decline that offer, but that sequence of events will ensure that Chicago nets a compensatory Draft pick next summer if he signs with a different team.

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“We'd love to bring him back. We'll have a lot of conversations with him,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said at the end of the season. “Obviously it's going to play out for a while.”

Monday was the deadline for teams to extend a qualifying offer to any eligible free agents. Any player who receives a QO has until Nov. 14 to accept or decline the one-year offer, giving them a chance to gauge their market. Since this system was established in 2012, only 13 of 124 players accepted the offer.

In Bellinger’s case, this was more of an insurance play for the Cubs. A year ago, Chicago similarly offered catcher Willson Contreras a QO, and gained the No. 68 pick in the 2022 Draft (following the second round) after he declined and signed with the Cardinals. The Cubs then used that Draft selection on pitcher Jaxon Wiggins out of the University of Arkansas.

The Cubs signed Bellinger to a one-year contract worth $17.5 million guaranteed last offseason, gambling on his potential as a high-reward comeback candidate. He then authored a strong bounceback campaign and declined his end of a $25 million mutual option for ‘24, setting himself up for a lucrative long-term contract this winter.

“There’s no prediction of the future in anything,” Bellinger said at the end of the season. “I really just enjoyed my time with this group of guys, with this coaching staff, playing for the Cubs organization. Wrigley Field was special.”

Bellinger’s career was off and rolling with the National League Rookie of the Year Award in ‘17, an MVP trophy in ‘19 and a World Series ring in ‘20 all with the Dodgers. He made two All-Star teams and won a Gold Glove with L.A., but injuries and diminished production led to his being non-tended last offseason.

The Cubs prioritized adding Bellinger, giving him a chance to embrace a change of scenery with a hitting group that included a familiar voice in hitting coach Dustin Kelly (formerly a coach in the Dodgers system). Bellinger thrived, posting a career-best .307 average across 130 games for Chicago.

Bellinger bounced between center (84 games) and first base (59) for the Cubs, ending the year with 26 homers, 29 doubles, 97 RBIs, 95 runs, 20 steals and an .881 OPS. He was the NL’s Player of the Month for July (hitting .400 in 26 games) and was the seventh player in Cubs history to enjoy a season with at least 20 homers and 20 steals.

Bellinger was one of four MLB players this past season to hit at least .300 with 25-plus homers and 20-plus stolen bases, alongside the Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr., the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman. Bellinger also posted a .984 OPS against lefties and led the Majors with 75 RBIs from July 1 through the end of the season.

Last week, Bellinger’s peers recognized his season by naming him the NL’s Comeback Player of the Year in the 2023 Players Choice Awards.

It goes without saying that losing Bellinger would be a blow to the Cubs lineup, but the team will have to weigh the cost of bringing him back in free agency against the alternatives in that market or available via trade. One way or another, Chicago will be on the hunt for impact offense in the coming months.

“He had an incredible season,” Hoyer said last month. “Yes, I do think that the contributions he made will have to be replaced. Obviously, we'd love to bring him back. But in a world where that's somewhat uncertain, we do have to figure out a way to replace that offensively.”