SF Giants Rumors – Lincecum’s Arbitration Status
Posted on February 3rd, 2010 by admin in SF Giants Rumors
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News says Tim Lincecum’s agent and the Giants have not engaged in significant contract negotiations. He’s convinced the two-time CY Young award winner’s arbitration case will reach the hearing stage. Lincecum’s agent said the Giants have not discussed a one-year deal and talks have been limited to “some very insignificant two-year conversations.”
Update
Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says it appears the Giants and Lincecum won’t be agreeing on any long-term deal. The pitcher will have to “settle” for whatever the arbitration panel concludes. King of Cali thoughts (on the update): Let’s just give him the $13 million and move on. We don’t want any hard feelings because of the arbitration case with our Ace!
King of Cali thoughts: Lincecum is the only Giants player that is still going through the arbitration process. However this story ends. He’s going to be getting paid. We know the most he’s going to get paid this year is going to be $13 million if this goes to arbitration. I’m sure the Giants would like to lock him up to a longer term deal soon, but if they don’t. He’s still under the teams control for four more seasons. Being a pitcher and going year-to-year in arbitration can be dangerous. You never know when a pitcher can mess up his arm. If I was part of Team Lincecum. I would be trying to push for a multi-year deal, so he can have some security. If you were part of team Lincecum. What would your strategy be?
~King of Cali
I agree. As a pitcher, I’d be interested in signing long term for the security. But from the team’s perspective, I’d probably be happy to wait on the long term deal for another year or two. I’d like to see Lincecum be a Giant for life as much as the next guy, but if we wait to sign him long term for a year or two, we could buy out more of his free agent years than if we sign him for 4 or 5 years right now. And if the unthinkable happened and he got seriously hurt, we wouldn’t be stuck with an enormous contract no matter how deserved it was to begin with. I hope Tim stays healthy and strong and signs a 5 or 6 year deal in a year or two and gives us another 8 to 10 years at least. Here’s hoping.
Carl,
It all depends if you’re team Lincecum or the Giants. It would be smart for Lincecum to sign a multi-year deal. You never know if you will break down. It’s smart for the Giants to try to hold off a year or two since he’s not leaving any time soon. He’s under the teams control for four seasons.
~King of Cali
Well the Giants can hold off till 2014, if they wanted to. I am thinking that both sides want to do a 2-4 year deal right now.
Been meaning to comment for a while now, sorry it’s taken so long… it’s been a long offseason on my end but that’s a different story. Anyway, I’m loving the improved site. I’ve been reading up when I;ve had a chance over the last few months.
I have to say, I disagree with you here on the team Lincecum path. I would love it if you are correct, but I think the Giants aren’t following that path.
The Giants would love to lock him up long term, but are being, as Scott Boras so eloquently put it, “thrifty” with their money. It’s the Bill Neukom way. Peter Mcgowan loved his star players but Neukom is much more business oriented. The Giants may end up reaching an agreement with Lincecum before the hearing, but it’ll be very close to 13 mil if it’s reached.
As for Team Lincecum, you are correct about the dangers but he has shown zero signs of wear & tear. MLBtraderumors linked a fangraphs stat related to his fastball dropping 1.5 mph lst season but it was well documented during the season that he was working with less Velocity for better control. The fact is, he is in uncharted water and has a duty to the MLBPA to push for the most he can gain financially. What Lincecum gains through Arb this offseason has ramifications on every single pitcher from here on out… every single year. He still has 3 more Arb years to sign a long term deal and with even a good season in 2010, he should be in line for a 15 mil payday. Why would he settle for anything less than a record salary for a second year player when he’s clearly the best pitcher in baseball regardless of tenure. It’s highly unlikely that he has an injury in 2010 that by the time the next arb hearing rolls around, enough of his long term status would be determined to significantly alter his ability to sign a deal that takes him through his arb years, which is really all he should want.
Lincecum will be free agent eligible for the 2013 class… the year after Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, & Zach Grienke…and Lincecum would still only be 29. They will set records if thry hit the market and he will break them if he does.
If you were Tim Lincecum, would you really settle for anything in 2010? I wouldn’t, and unless the Giants have a shift in philosophy related to him, they will lose him someday… sooner than anyone wants.
For the record, I want him in a Giants uni until the day he retires, regarless of the cost