San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt is entering the 2016 season with a new one-year, $6.2 million deal he signed in February before he hits a second year of arbitration next offseason, per Spotrac.
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Belt, Giants in Extension Talks
Tuesday, March 22
Unrestricted free agency looms after the 2017 season, and the Giants look keen on locking Belt down long term. On Monday, Giants general manager Bobby Evans met with Belt's representatives to continue talking about a contract extension, per Alex Pavlovic of CSNBayArea.com.
Evans spoke with Pavlovic about negotiations:
We’re exploring options. There’s no pressure — we have him for two more years. There’s no pressure, but if we have the opportunity, it’d be wise to take advantage of it. We’ll see how it plays out.
We have a fan base here that appreciates him and a club he fits well on, and he’s been a big part of our success.
This season will be Belt's sixth season in MLB, all with the Giants, as he's been a part of two World Series-winning teams in 2012 and 2014.
He's looking to follow up one of his finest seasons in the league after he hit .280 with a career-high 18 home runs and 68 RBI while being ranked 17th in the league in WAR, per Pavlovic.
The Giants have been a busy team already this offseason, having signed big-name free agents such as pitchers Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija while re-signing shortstop Brandon Crawford to a six-year deal.
Those three signatures alone cost around $285 million this offseason, but Giants management told Pavlovic that it has enough space to sign Belt to a "significant extension."
The team might be hesitant to sign Belt to big money, though, because of his troubles staying on the field. He's never played in more than 150 games in a season, as he's suffered three concussions, a broken thumb and, most recently, underwent knee surgery during the offseason to repair a torn meniscus.
That kind of track record could deter the Giants and Belt from agreeing to a deal. Per Pavlovic, the two parties have already had difficulties in negotiations during the arbitration process, and if they don't find a middle ground in the next year or so, then it will become difficult to keep Belt in San Francisco.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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