Brandon Belt, Giants reach $6.2 million deal

PHOENIX -- First baseman Brandon Belt and the San Francisco Giantsagreed to a $6.2 million, one-year contract just before the scheduled start of their salary arbitration hearing on Wednesday.

The agreement was $200,000 below the midpoint between the $7.5 million Belt had asked for and the $5.3 million the Giants had offered when figures were exchanged last month.

Belt made $3.6 million last year, and Giants general manager Bobby Evans expressed interest in signing Belt to a multiyear contract before the 2016 season.

Belt traveled to Florida in February 2014 for an arbitration hearing that was avoided at the last minute when the sides settled just beforehand to avoid what would have been the team's first arbitration hearing since catcher A.J. Pierzynski in 2004.

The 27-year-old Belt batted .280 with 18 home runs and 68 RBIs last year as the Giants missed the playoffs. In 2014, Belt returned from concussions to help lead the Giants to their third World Series in five years.