Here’s the latest from the City by the Bay…
- Brandon Belt and the Giants avoided an arbitration hearing by a mere 45 minutes, and executive VP of baseball operations Brian Sabean tells reporters (including Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News) that the one-year, $6.2MM agreement could be a good platform for a multi-year contract. Both sides expressed interest in an extension that would keep Belt in San Francisco beyond his two remaining years of team control. “If we had a settlement figure of $5.3 (million) or $7.5 (million), it might not be as good of a springboard,” Sabean said, citing the arbitration figures submitted by the club and Belt. “But I think we ended up in the joy spot, which is palatable for both sides. It’s a good place to start the conversation.” The Giants already have a significant amount of future payroll tied up in long-term contracts, though Sabean said that this wouldn’t impede the club’s ability to extend Belt.
- Sabean also told Baggarly and other reporters that Tim Lincecum is a “long shot” to pitch for the club in 2016 since the Giants already have rotation depth in Chris Heston and Lincecum wants to start rather than pitch out of the bullpen. That said, the team is sending pitching coach Dave Righetti and others to watch Lincecum’s showcase for scouts later this month. Righetti spoke highly of Lincecum’s importance to the team in recent years and he hopes a reunion could still somehow be possible.
- The Giants may yet make some depth additions but Sabean tells CSNBayArea.com’s Alex Pavlovic that the team is pretty much out of payroll space. It’s also unlikely that the club will make any more significant international signings. This is notable since it means the Giants won’t be adding any more pool-eligible talent while they still can — the Giants have already exceeded their international bonus pool for this signing period, meaning that the team will be limited to signings of $300K or less until July 2018. San Francisco went into the penalty area to sign Bahamanian shortstop prospect Lucius Fox to a $6MM bonus last July.
What does the site mean by spam??
Regarding: “This is notable since it means the Giants won’t be adding any more pool-eligible talent while they still can — the Giants have already exceeded their international bonus pool for this signing period, meaning that the team will be limited to signings of $300K or less until July 2018. ”
I thought the penalty was only for one year which would cover 2016-17, meaning that they would be able to participate again in July 2017.
Nope, it’s two years.
I’m telling people this. Lincecum ultimately ends up as the Giants’ closer.
I am figuring the same
Unless he gains an unearthly curve ball or velocity on his fastball he’s gone. I’ll miss him but that’s the business of baseball. They held on to him a couple years too long. I just hope I’m wrong though! But I’ll still sport my 2007 and 2010 Timmy jerseys!