Giants extend offers to 5 arb-eligible players

The Giants tendered contracts to second baseman Joe Panik, right-handed relief pitchers Cory Gearrin, Sam Dyson and Hunter Strickland, and lefty reliever Will Smith on Friday.
The club non-tendered righty reliever Albert Suárez, who has appeared in 40 games over the last two seasons.
Panik, 27, has been the club's regular at second base since June 2014. Dyson, 29, was acquired in a June 6 trade with the Rangers and Strickland, 29, has attained Super 2 status (among players between two and three years' service time, his is in the top 22 percent). All three are arbitration-eligible for the first time.
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Smith, 28, and Gearrin, 31, are in their second year of arbitration eligibility.
Players have a Jan. 9 deadline for filing for arbitration and the deadline for teams and players to exchange arbitration figures is Jan. 12, although the sides could work out agreements before then.
If teams and players don't reach agreements at the time of the exchange, hearings will be scheduled between Jan. 29 and Feb. 16. Cases will be heard in Phoenix. However, the rules allow for agreements to be negotiated and reached between the exchange dates and when a hearing occurs.