The Los Angeles Dodgers had a lot of decisions to make last offseason. They had Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner and Trea Turner all as options to re-sign or extend their contracts, yet choose to decline all options. The Dodgers are still heavy favorites to win the NL West, currently setting in first place at 58-43 with a three-game lead in the division. However, they've already started making their second half acquisitions with hopes of returning to the World Series. Before the MLB trade deadline comes to a close, perhaps they should make one more acquisition, this time for Bellinger.

The Dodgers had to let Cody Bellinger go

It made sense when the Dodgers didn't tender Bellinger last offseason, letting him hit free agency. The former MVP had ran into a string of bad luck over the last three seasons, hampered mainly by continuous injuries. He dealt with everything from hamstring issues, to then later what ended up being on-going shoulder problems. One of the times he hurt his shoulder, in fact, was when he dislocated it after celebrating a home run in the 2020 NLCS, when he did a shoulder bump with Enrique Hernández. Not only was it embarrassing, it also made it seem like he was becoming fragile.

Bellinger won the NL MVP award at 23-years-old in 2019. This led many into thinking that he was the next phenomenon of the sport. But after those lingering injuries became a issue the following year, Bellinger became a below-average hitter.

Although it was the pandemic shortened season in 2020, Bellinger's numbers started to take a nose-dive that season, where he hit .239/.333/.455. In 2021, in only 95 games, he slashed an abysmal .165/.240/.302, putting only 10 over the fence. Last season, he played in more games (144), but still had yet to find any consistency at the plate, hitting just over .200. In comparison to his first three years in the league to his last three years, Bellinger hit 111 homers to just 41. Again, some of that should be accounted for the pandemic season, but there's still two seasons there where he hit less than 20 homers in a season.

The Dodgers seemed justified to have lost faith in him by the end. That became obvious when they benched him before Game 4 of last year's NLDS, which was an elimination game. The writing was on the wall.

Cody Bellinger is back to form in 2023 with Chicago Cubs

Fast forward to now, just past the All-Star break in 2023 and Bellinger seems to regained some of his form that made him an MVP. Bellinger signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs during the offseason, where most hoped for a resurgence like he's having right now. This season he's blasted 15 dingers and slashing .312/.360/.545.

The Cubs have had their struggles this year, yet are like a lot teams in the league this season and are about a .500 team. They're currently at third in the NL Central and 4.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot. They have, however, been on a recent tear, going on a five game winning streak, while also winning seven out of their last 10.

Does that put the Cubs as playoff contenders? The NL Central is a wild division, where most of teams in the division are still technically in the hunt. But the Cubs might be looking to rebuild and by doing so they would need to trade off guys like Bellinger and even highly talented pitcher Marcus Stroman.

The Dodgers need to have a reunion with Cody Bellinger

A perfect reunion with Bellinger awaits the Dodgers, that would be about as good as any Hollywood scriptwriter could pen. The bad news is, they're all on strike now, which leaves the Dodgers and their former outfielder with the capabilities to create movie-like magic.

Bringing back Bellinger could be a move that could prove to be a pivotal one before the approaching trade deadline. The recent acquisition of Kiké Hernandez showed that the Dodgers are already eager to bring back some familiar faces, but it's Bellinger who holds a special place in the hearts of Dodgers fans.

Bellinger might be just what this team needs to give them the edge in the National League as the favorites to win it all. And wouldn't that be ironic? Even as a rental, the Dodgers have some financial flexibility if and when they choose to court Shohei Ohtani this offseason with Bellinger becoming a free agent at the end of the season. Even with James Outman's recent surge as the Dodgers centerfielder, he's no guarantee like Bellinger has been in the past. If the Dodgers truly look at Bellinger and believe he's healthy and capable of doing MVP-like things he did before, then this is a no-brainer.