San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt avoided arbitration with the team this offseason just hours before the scheduled hearing. He's signed on for $6.2 million in 2016 and will enter his final year of arbitration eligibility before 2017. Still, the Giants need to keep him under contract for longer than that.
Rumors from earlier in the offseason touched upon the two sides discussing a long-term deal, just like the team did with shortstop Brandon Crawford, who inked a five-year, $75-million pact shortly after the 2015 campaign came to an end. It's unknown what an extension for Belt would look like, but San Francisco spent a ton of money this offseason and opted to perhaps hold off talks with Belt for the time being.
However, the Giants need to keep the 27-year-old with the team for as long as possible. His two best campaigns with the Giants in 2013 (.289/.360/.481 with 76 runs scored, 17 home runs and 67 RBI) and 2015 (.280/.356/.478 with 73 runs, 18 home runs and 68 RBI) are a clear indicator as to why. He's among the top-10 first basemen in Major League Baseball and if the Giants can work out a deal with him now they'll probably save money in the long run.
General manager Bobby Evans did not provide any specifics regarding a contract, but he expressed the team is confident in Belt in numerous ways.
"I can tell you that we believe in his bat, his defense, his character and the continuity that he, if healthy, can add to our lineup," he told Andrew Beggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. "Strikeouts are certainly a challenge for him, but he's also a guy who gets on base at a pretty fair clip."
Belt, even with a somewhat shortened season due to a concussion in 2015, ranked sixth among the league's first baseman in batting average (.280), eighth in OPS (.834) and seventh in WAR (3.9). His fielding percentage (.997) was also tops in the league (with a number of other players) as he committed just three errors all season.
Some would argue Belt is a liability because he's been hampered with injuries and played in just 198 games over the past two seasons. Another issue is that Buster Posey may eventually move to first base due to the strenuous nature of the catcher position, which would mean youngster Andrew Susac would take over behind the plate. But can the Giants really rely on that?
Susac, 26, has hit just .240/.309/.407 in his first 87 MLB games with 27 runs scored, six home runs and 33 RBI. He also hasn't been hitting well this spring thanks to a .217/.308/.435 clip with five runs scored, one home run, five RBI and eight strikeouts in 23 at-bats. To date, his minor league stats haven't been all that impressive either.
The Giants don't need to sign Belt to a contract right this moment, but it'd be a good idea to let him and Susac to play out half the season to get a good gauge in terms of Belt's health and Susac's improvement.
Manager Bruce Bochy was high on Belt before the 2015 season and his gut feeling ended up being right. Belt boosted his career average to .271, OPS to .803 and WAR to 12.6, all of which are a safe bet for a long-term deal.
The Giants need to get this done when the time is right or else their team is going to suffer in more ways than one down the road.