SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — First baseman Brandon Belt and the San Francisco Giants agreed Saturday to a $72.8 million, five-year contract that starts in 2017.
Belt reached a $6.2 million, one-year agreement in February, and general manager Bobby Evans remained optimistic the sides would reach a long-term deal. The new contract calls for a $6 million signing bonus, payable next Jan. 15, a $2.8 million salary for 2017 and $16 million annually from 2018-21. Each Nov. 1 starting in 2017, Belt may designate 10 teams he cannot be traded to without his consent.
Belt, who would have been eligible for free agency after the 2017 season, took a physical Saturday morning at AT&T Park. The 27-year-old batted .280 with 18 home runs and 68 RBI last year as the Giants missed the playoffs.
Belt traveled to Florida in February 2014 for an arbitration hearing that was avoided when the sides settled just beforehand, avoiding what would have been the team's first hearing since catcher A.J. Pierzynski in 2004.
