BRADENTON, Fla. — The unfailingly polite Neil Walker has been asked about his contract status for most of spring training, to the point where the second baseman thinks it’s counterproductive to talk about it.

“It’s time to think about the season,” the Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman said this week. “That’s the focus now.”

The Pirates open the season April 6 at Cincinnati against the Reds and it appears contract talks between the team and Walkerhave been put on hold.

The sides could not agree on a deal in the offseason and went to an arbitration hearing, which the Pirates won. Walker will have an $8.5-million salary this season and remains eligible to become a free agent after next season.

“You have to kind of separate the financial part from the game of baseball itself and try to remove the emotional and the personal side of things,” said Walker.

“It’s a growing experience, and it’s something that a lot of guys go through when you get to this point in your career. But to have it behind me and to be focusing on the 2015 season and the Pittsburgh Pirates is something that I’m very happy about right now.”