MLB’s 2023 qualifying offer has been set, and thoughts on arbitration-eligible Cubs

Will Willson still be wearing this uniform in 2023?Last year, the qualifying offer for MLB free agents — the number that would trigger draft-pick compensation if the FA signed with another team — was $18.4 million.

For 2023, that number has jumped by $1.25 million, to $19.65 million, per the Associated Press.

We learned last week during Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer’s season-ending news conference that the Cubs would “definitely” be extending a qualifying offer to Willson Contreras.

It is almost certainly true that any free-agent contract Contreras signed would not pay him that much on an AAV basis. On the other hand, a multi-year free-agent offer would certainly be worth…