Giants clear any potential arbitration hurdles

Club agrees to 2017 terms with Nunez, Smith, Kontos

January 13th, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants completed salary-arbitration season without a fuss Friday by agreeing to terms with left-hander Will Smith, right-hander and infielder on one-year contracts.
The team thus avoided potentially adversarial arbitration hearings with all six of their players eligible for the process. Third baseman , infielder and right-hander made one-year deals with the Giants earlier this offseason.
Smith, Kontos and Nunez were among numerous Major Leaguers who finalized agreements with their respective clubs on Friday, when clubs were due to exchange one-year proposals with arbitration-eligible players. This deadline typically hastens deal-making.
"I think that we worked long and hard on this and we were able to find common ground with all the different players involved," Giants general manager Bobby Evans said.
According to reports, Nunez earned a raise to $4.2 million from $1.475 million, while MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman reported that Smith will get $2.5 million, up from $1.475 million last year. Industry sources said Kontos will receive $1.75 million, up from $1.15 million last season.

Having completed his contractual tasks, Evans indicated that the Giants will keep searching for personnel upgrades. For San Francisco, that means finding a left fielder -- though Evans has repeated that and will compete for the vacancy, with non-roster invitees and pushing them.
"We always stay cognizant of what the options are, externally or via trade," Evans said. "There's nothing really to update you on in that regard. It's an ongoing, entire-offseason-all-the-way-to-Spring Training type of process."