Brandon Belt, San Francisco Giants first baseman, has accepted the qualifying offer tendered to him by the Giants, per reports. Every other free agent who received a qualifying offer has reportedly rejected it.
Belt, 33, was seen as one of the most likely players to accept the qualifying offer. A career-long Giant, the expectation has been that he would return to the team, and while he has accepted the $18.4M qualifying offer, this may just be a prelude to a two or three year deal being worked out.
Thirteen others declined the qualifying offer, and thus will continue to be free agents, with a signing team forfeiting a draft pick (generally a second rounder).