For 12 seasons Brandon Belt was a fixture on the San Fransisco Giants roster. In his time by the bay, Belt slashed .261/.356/.458 with an OPS of .817 with 194 home runs, 627 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 124. He was also a part of the Giants team that won the World Series in 2012 and 2014. It’s safe to say that Belt has had a pretty successful career so far.
However, Belt’s career is currently at a crossroads. At the end of the 2022 season, he became a free agent and his time in San Fransisco was over when he signed a one-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays worth about 9.3 million. After playing 103 games for the Jays in the 2023 season, Belt once again finds himself as a free agent, and with the season almost a week away it looks like he might be without a team on Opening Day. However, a smart move for any team would be to bring in Belt on a minor league contract.
Why A Team Should Sign Brandon Belt
The biggest draw that Belt has is his offensive production. Last season in Toronto, he slashed .254/.369/.490 for a .858 OPS with 19 home runs, 49 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 136. Sure it came in only about 100 games. However, he was a productive player in a platoon/spot-starter role. This isn’t an easy thing to do. That should be enough reason for a team to be interested in bringing Belt in.
The season in Toronto also silences some of the concerns that Belt was beginning to regress. If you look at his 2022 season, you would think his best days are behind him. He slashed .213/.326/.357 for a .676 OPS with eight home runs, 23 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 93. He also missed an extended period after undergoing surgery on cartilage in his right leg. This seems to be more of an outlier when looking over the past three seasons. His 2023 stat line reflects what we saw out of Belt in the 2021 season and his career averages.
Along with what Belt can do with the bat, he has a great eye at the plate. Per Baseball Savant, Belt ranks in the 96th percentile when it comes to chase rate which is how often a player swings at pitches out of the strike zones. One of the best in baseball. He also ranks in the 97th percentile when it comes to walk rate. All these stats show a disciplined hitter who looks to get on base but has enough pop in the bat to get one over the wall.
What Role Would He Serve?
There are only two places on a big league roster where Belt can contribute. The first one is him being the designated hitter for a team. Offensive production is the only value he gives to a team. Belt days of playing in the field are well past him. On top of the fact that Belt ranked poorly in the limited time he had on the field, he also had a major knee injury in the past few seasons. The best way to use him is to keep him as a hitter. That way he stays healthy and doesn’t kill the team in the field.
The only other position Belt could serve is a platoon option when facing a right-handed batter. This is the role that Belt was mainly used in Toronto last season. He only had 39 plate appearances against lefties and 365 against righties. This means he has better numbers against right-handed pitchers. Teams can pair him with someone who does well against lefties and create a platoon situation to cover a hole in the roster.
If teams want a cheap option to give them decent big-league production, then they definitely should consider Belt.
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