SAN ANTONIO, Texas — For about a week or so now, Jed Hoyer and the Cubs have been able to begin to lay the groundwork for their offseason planning.

While the public didn’t find out until this past weekend of Cody Bellinger’s decision to remain in Chicago in 2025, Hoyer, Bellinger and his agent Scott Boras had been in enough contact that for about “a week to 10 days,” the Cubs were able to move ahead as if Bellinger was in the fold.

“It mostly just gives us clarity,” Jed Hoyer said on the opening night of the General Managers meetings at the JW Marriott. “Now we know what our roster looks like, and we can go about building the team.

“I think before there was some uncertainty and now it adds clarity and [we can] spend the next four days talking to agents and getting a feel for the market.”

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Bellinger’s return does create some lineup questions. Does Bellinger slide into right field permanently? Is Seiya Suzuki the full-time DH in 2025?

“It feels premature on that,” Hoyer said. “But yeah, I thought Seiya did a great job DHing. We didn’t have injuries down the stretch.

“I think any time you just have depth at a bunch of positions — you lose an outfielder, and all of a sudden, having the ability to slot a guy like that in is really nice.”

It was clear the Cubs’ best defensive outfield was Ian Happ in left, Pete Crow-Armstrong patrolling center and Bellinger in right. Happ has won the NL Gold Glove Award at left three years in a row, Crow-Armstrong might win Gold Gloves of his own in center and Bellinger has won a Gold Glove in right field in 2019.

“Obviously, Cody’s our best defensive right fielder,” Hoyer added. “But certainly I think, Seiya is solid and has room to improve.”

The Cubs roster options seem deep right now — Bellinger and Suzuki are in a crowded outfield picture that includes Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Mike Tauchman. Kevin Alcántara, Alexander Canario and Brennen Davis are all on the 40-man too and that’s without mentioning top prospect Owen Caissie, who spent 2024 in Triple-A.

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But as Hoyer mentioned, injuries are a real part of the equation. Suzuki, Bellinger, Canario, Davis and Alcántara all spent time on the IL. Plus, Bellinger is more than capable of playing at first base, too.

Having that depth is imperative to the Cubs.

And it comes in the form of a former MVP and outfielder who can carry an offense like he did in 2023.

“We love him as a player,” Hoyer said. “Anytime a really good player decides to stay with you, that’s good news.”