Giants, Belt, Kontos submit arbitration figures

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SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants have a little more work to do if they are to avoid their first arbitration hearing in over a decade.

The club failed to reach deals with Brandon Belt and George Kontos, the only two arbitration-eligible players on the roster. Belt filed at $7.5 million and the Giants filed at $5.3 million, per MLB Network's Jon Heyman. The Kontos gap is smaller; the team filed at $850,000 and Kontos at $1.35 million. 

If the Giants can't reach agreements before February hearings, an arbitrator will pick one side or the other in both the Belt and Kontos cases. The Giants try to avoid hearings, which can become messy, and have done so since going up against A.J. Pierzynski in 2004.

This is Belt's third go-around with arbitration and he actually flew to Florida in 2014 for a hearing that was avoided at the last minute. Belt hit .280 with a career-high 18 homers last season, when he made $3.6 million. The Giants have said they hope to reach a long-term deal with Belt, but talks have never gotten far.

Kontos is coming off a career year. He posted a 2.33 ERA in 73 appearances and was extremely valuable for Bruce Bochy in the middle innings. The 30-year-old is going through the arbitration process for the first time.

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