Sunday afternoon linkage..
- The Giants are seeking middle ground with Tim Lincecum in their contract talks, tweets Jon Heyman of SI. The club's first offer was for four years but the right-hander would like eight years in a long-term deal. Lincecum is also comfortable with a one or two-year deal.
- The Mets would love to trade for Athletics closer Andrew Bailey but are more likely to sign one or two relievers from a list that includes Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, Brad Lidge, and Matt Capps, writes Mike Puma of the New York Post.
- The Marlins are in the mix for most of this winter's top free agents but haven't landed a big-name free agent since signing Carlos Delgado after the 2004 season. Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel caught up with Delgado's agent, David Sloane, to recap how that came to happen. The slugger was pursued by the Mets, Orioles, Rangers, and Mariners during the Winter Meetings but didn't hear from the Fish until ten days after they concluded.
- The Dodgers' payroll will be below $90MM, the lowest in years, thanks in part to the backloaded deal they gave to pitcher Chris Capuano, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.
I just don’t get why teams like the Mets try to trade for guys like Bailey. They are about to lose Jose Reyes, but they think Bailey is going to make a difference for their team. It just doesn’t make sense. They need to build from within instead of trading what they do have in their farm system.
i also agree that the mets need to build from within; however, if we want to retain reyes (as i do), we might have to get creative. our farm’s pitching is very thin in the upper levels, but has good depth in IF prospects (satin, valdespin, tejada, notice i’m not mentioning havens). plus, we have murphy who could replace willingham as a cheap DH candidate/1B platoon for oakland. in bailey we would get a 27 year old who has great stats, and theoretically could be the mets closer for years to come. the move would be beneficial to the club for both the short and long term. i think we should at least entertain the idea.
Lincecum is looking for 8 years. While it seems like a long time and is he’s probably one of the very few pitchers that’s worth it. Basically it’s buying out his last 2 arbitration years and 6 years of FA. Somewhere between a $175 to $200MM deal. They can probably kiss Matt Cain goodbye then. Considering SF has indicated they want to keep their payroll around the $130MM mark, don’t see Cain in their long term future. Considering when he comes up for renewal he’s going to be looking for at least a 6 year deal at $18 to $20M per.
Yea, plus Cain looks like Bobby Hill. :P
If I had to choose between Lincecum and Cain I’d probably take Cain.
Why is that?
Cain keeps getting better each season, while Lincecum is progressively getting worse. Although, Lincecum worse is better than a lot of pitchers best.
Cain is also 6’3 230 while Lincecum is barely 6’0 165
Cain is also younger
Only by a little over 3 months.
i think cain pitched in the bigs first though , no college experience though
Because I believe physique is a very important factor for a pitcher’s durability (especially SPs) and I still think Lincecum will run into problems in that department in the near future due to his relatively small frame.
lol all I can say is that if the Giants and their fans don’t want him anymore, there’ll be a line forming for GMs who do.
no pitcher is worth 8 yrs
It’s not really an 8 year contract. 2 years of arbitration buy out followed by a 6 year contract.
i guess if you look at it like that…still on the team for 8 yrs
I would say that no PLAYER is worth 8 years.
I agree. Any pitcher is one bad step, tweaked throwing mechanic, broken bat or ball to the face away from the DL. 8 Years for any player is insane. Even 6 years is pushing it. Look at players like Eric Chavez. Amazing talent, givin a ton of cash which Oakland ended up paying for a rehabbing Chavez for 3 of those contract years.
Makes sense for Lincecum to say that, he’s already guaranteed financial security for life with his next arbitration move if you include his already lucrative deals, Why would he give his best free agent years to the Giants if they also won’t take his worst ones, he doesn’t have to forgo dollars for financial security like most of the other players who give up their late 20s for the cheap.
This isn’t that hard, Sabean. 8 Years is a negotiating position. Sign him for between 6/120 and 6/140.
It may even be better, long-term, for Tim. That way Lincecum can sign one more FA deal at age 33 instead of 35.
Kershaw @ 22 years old might be worth 8 years.