The San Francisco Giants have placed veteran infielder Mike Fontenot on release waivers, reports Hank Schulman of the SF Chronicle.

Fontenot avoided arbitration with San Francisco by signing a one-year, $1.05 million deal with the team during the offseason but is now only guaranteed $250K of that money.

Entering his ninth Major League season, Fontenot played 113 games for the Giants over the last two years, earning a World Series ring with the team in 2010 after joining the team in a mid-August trade.

The 31-year-old infielder has hit .263/.332/.406 in his eight seasons between the Cubs and the Giants, putting up average defensive numbers up the middle.

Schulman also tweets that the release of Fontenot may leave room on the roster for prospect Brandon Belt, who has struggled to find playing time on the Major League squad the last two years despite his prospect status.

I could be reading this wrong, but I have to think Fontenot bodes well for Belt. Now Gs can't use excuse that bench is too left-heavy.

— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) March 30, 2012

• SF Giants cut infielder Mike Fontenot | SFGate.com blog
  The Giants today placed infielder Mike Fontenot on release waivers, cutting ties with a key backup from the 2010 World Series title team.