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Matt Cain

West Links: Cain, Conger, McCarthy

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Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, a free agent after this season, discussed his contract earlier today, intimating that he won't take a hometown discount to remain in Texas. It should make for an interesting season for the All-Star. Here are some other links from around the West divisions …

  • Giants pitcher Matt Cain's agents, Landon Williams and Rick Landrum, have joined CAA Sports, according to Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal, and are continuing extension negotiations on behalf of the right-hander under that company (Twitter links). As with Hamilton, Cain hinted earlier this month that he's not inclined to accept a club-friendly deal.
  • With Chris Iannetta on board as the Angels' starting catcher, it looks like Hank Conger will begin the season in the minors so as to avoid riding the bench in the Majors, writes Mark Saxon of ESPNLA.com. Conger could be expendable, Saxon adds, if Iannetta and the Halos exercise their $5MM mutual option for 2013.
  • Athletics starter Brandon McCarthy's transition from a disappointing prospect to a post-hype breakout star in 2011 is documented by Eddie Matz of ESPN The Magazine. McCarthy overhauled his pitching approach after studying up on sabermetrics, parlaying his 2011 success (AL-best 2.86 FIP) into a $4.275MM arbitration reward for 2012 and a shot at a possible long-term extension.

Quick Hits: Cain, Garland, Guillen, Flores, Chen

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Spring Training complexes in Florida and Arizona are starting to come alive with baseball activity, but there are meaningful games already being played all across the country. Stanford right-hander Mark Appel – the current favorite to go first overall in this year's draft – allowed just two hits and one run in seven innings against Vanderbilt yesterday, kicking off the NCAA baseball season. Here's the latest from around the big leagues…

  • “We’d all like something resolved by the end of spring training,” said Matt Cain to Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com when asked about a contract extension. “I don’t think either side wants that to linger into the season.” Cain has already indicated that he will not give the Giants a hometown discount after already signing one team friendly contract.
  • Jon Garland will take his physical on Monday, reports Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland-Plain Dealer (on Twitter). Garland agreed to a minor league deal with the Indians earlier this week, but the physical is far from routine after shoulder surgery.
  • Carlos Guillen told MLB.com's Greg Johns that he had other opportunities, but chose to return to the Mariners on a minor league contract. "I decided to come here because this is my first house," he said. "I know the city, and I'm happy to be back."
  • Jesus Flores told Amanda Comak of The Washington Times that he hadn't planned on being a backup catcher at this point of his career, but asking the Nationals for a trade is "not on [his] mind." The 27-year-old Flores will backup Wilson Ramos this season.
  • Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen hasn't even thrown a pitch since signing a three-year, sub-$12MM deal with Orioles earlier this offseason, but he's already told Eduardo A. Encina of The Baltimore Sun that he hopes to stay in MLB for the next ten years (Twitter link).
  • Rod Barajas told MLB.com's Tom Singer that he's excited to be reunited with A.J. Burnett. Barajas and Burnett played together with the Blue Jays before both landing with the Pirates this offseason.

Giants Notes: Cain, Lincecum, Payroll, Beltran

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The Giants made their roster available to the media today, on the eve of the club's annual FanFest event. Here's latest on the 2010 World Champs…

  • “We’ve talked … and it’s a process,” said Matt Cain to reporters (including Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News) when asked about an extension. “We’ll see what’s going to happen. We’re definitely here for this year.”
  • The right-hander did stop short of saying he'll give the team a hometown discount. “That’s tough,” he said. “You definitely love being in San Francisco, and we do. We have a year till free agency. That’s something as a player you think about, having that opportunity. It’s hard to say what will happen in these next several months.”
  • “Budget won’t be a factor," said GM Brian Sabean when asked about signing both Cain and Tim Lincecum long-term. "We’ll have enough wherewithal in the budget that we won’t have to pick. Whether that happens, I can’t predict. But we have it in the budget to sign both players.”
  • Sabean also said that increasing payroll to add players in midseason has "always been possible with our ownership group" according to John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter).
  • The Giants wanted Carlos Beltran back as a left fielder, says Shea (on Twitter). They were willing to give him two years, but not the $26MM the Cardinals gave him.

Giants Optimistic About New Deal With Cain

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There are early indications that the Giants will have a decent or better chance to lock Matt Cain on another long-term deal, writes Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.  Heyman adds that the club offered Tim Lincecum a deal worth at least $100MM over five years but is now focusing on one- and two-year deals after being rebuffed.

Giants people are saying only that talks are "ongoing'' with Cain, but there seems to be a fair amount of optimism they can keep Cain for less than $20MM a season.   Cain already took one long team-friendly deal when he agreed to a three-year, $27.25MM contract prior to the 2010 season.  Our own Luke Adams recently explored what it would take for the Giants to lock the 27-year-old up with a new deal.

However, Lincecum seems more likely to wind up with a two-year deal rather than sign a contract into his free-agent years.  We've heard all offseason that the pitcher is in search of a short-term deal.  Yesterday we learned that the Giants offered a two-year, $40MM contract and Lincecum's representatives countered with a two-year, $44MM offer.

Heyman writes that baseball people believe that Cain could match Cliff Lee's $120MM deal as a free agent if he tests the market after the year, but word is that he badly wants to stay in San Francisco. Those in the industry also believe that if Lincecum can put together two more outstanding years, he can become the game's first $200MM pitcher on the open market in 2013.

Latest On Extension Talks For Lincecum, Cain

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Ryan Vogelsong signed a minor league deal with the Giants exactly one year ago on his way to a breakout season. The 34-year-old pitched 179 2/3 innings with a 2.71 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9  in 2012. The Giants liked what they saw and agreed to terms on a two-year, $8.3MM extension earlier this evening. Here's a look ahead to a couple of the Giants' other extension candidates via Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News…

  • Tim Lincecum's agent said the Giants haven’t had dialogue with Lincecum in at least a month, Baggarly reports.
  • Giants VP of Baseball Operations Bobby Evans said the team hopes an arbitration hearing with Lincecum won't be necessary. "You do the best you can to find common ground, I remain optimistic we will," Evans said.
  • Evans said he has had "healthy, ongoing dialogue" with the representatives for Matt Cain about an extension, Baggarly reports. MLBTR’s Luke Adams looked ahead to a possible Cain extension last month.
  • Madison Bumgarner is also an extension candidate, as MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes explained.

Extension Candidate: Matt Cain

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Heading into this offseason, pundits seemed unable to agree whether C.J. Wilson or Yu Darvish was the most desirable pitcher available to MLB teams. While a case could be made for either hurler, they likely would've been battling for second place had Giants right-hander Matt Cain not signed a contract extension delaying his free agency by a year. Prior to the 2010 season, Cain and the Giants agreed to a three-year, $27.25MM deal that will make him a free agent after 2012, rather than 2011.

The extension, Cain's second with the team, has worked out splendidly for San Francisco. The 27-year-old enjoyed arguably his best two seasons in 2010 and 2011, earning Cy Young votes for the first time while posting a 3.01 ERA, 7.2 K/9, and just 2.5 BB/9 in 66 starts. Cain will make $15MM in 2012, but if the Giants hope to keep him past next year, they'll have to commit significantly more money than that.

Icon_13258478Earlier this month, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reported that the Giants figure to be aggressive in their attempts to lock up Cain before Spring Training. The club has also been said to prefer extensions of about four years, so what would a long-term deal for Cain look like?

The going rate for elite arms suggests Cain could aim for $20MM+ annually on a long-term deal on the open market if he pitches well again in 2012. Baggarly spoke to an executive who thought the Landon Williams client could land a $150MM deal as a free agent, and while that prediction may be a little bullish, it's not out of the realm of possibility. Cain will turn just 28 as the 2012 season ends, and recent marquee free agents like Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia signed for annual average values of about $23-24MM. Meanwhile, pitchers that signed extensions with their current teams, such as Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez, and Roy Halladay, will make about $20MM for most of their free agent years. Although Cain may not quite be in the same company of those Cy Young winners, he certainly has a stronger track record than Wilson, whose new contract exceeds $15MM in annual average value and reportedly wasn't even his largest offer.

If we assume the Giants can get Cain to agree to a four-year deal, not including 2012, they could be looking at a commitment in the neighborhood of $100MM over the next five years — $15MM for 2012, $20MM each for the next four, and maybe a $5MM buyout on a 2017 option. Cain has played it relatively safe with his previous contract extensions, so perhaps he'd pass up a chance at the open market to remain with the Giants long-term at that price.

What remains to be seen, however, is whether the Giants even be willing to offer such a contract. Barry Zito still has $46MM remaining on his seven-year deal, Madison Bumgarner's cost will soon increase significantly (potentially next winter as a Super Two), and most importantly, the Giants would like to lock up two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, who could soon become the most expensive of all their starters. Given the club's struggles to produce offensively in recent years, it may not be viable to tie up so much money in the starting rotation.

In his previously linked piece, Baggarly wrote that there's a "feeling around the league" San Francisco will have to part with either Cain or Lincecum at some point, rather than keeping both on long-term deals. If that's the case, perhaps the Giants will tip their hand before the season begins — each of Cain's past two extensions were inked in March, before Opening Day.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Giants Notes: Cain, Lincecum, Ishikawa

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Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News has some details about the Giants' quest to lock up Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum to multiyear extensions.  The latest…

  • Cain's representatives spoke with Giants VP Bobby Evans during the Winter Meetings.  Baggarly says "all indications are that the Giants plan to be aggressive in locking up Cain before he reports to spring training."
  • The "benchmark" for a Cain extension seems to be the six-year, $99MM offer from the Marlins that C.J. Wilson reportedly turned down before signing with the Angels.  "Cain is younger and better than Wilson," an industry source tells Baggarly.  "He'd get $150 million on the open market."
  • When Cain signed his three-year, $27.25MM extension in March 2010, a fourth year (worth $16MM) was originally part of the contract but the Giants removed it from the deal due to worries about loose bodies found in a scan of Cain's throwing elbow.  Rick Landrum, one of Cain's representatives, didn't know why the Giants removed the fourth year since Cain's medical information hadn't changed, but said it wouldn't affect the current talks with the club.  For what it's worth, Cain has thrown 445 innings over the last two seasons and appears as durable as ever.
  • Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported earlier this week that Lincecum was seeking an eight-year contract.  Baggarly confirms this item and adds that the eight-year proposal "was believed to include opt-out language."  In another piece, Baggarly hears from Evans that while the Giants don't have a policy against such opt-out clauses, the club is "not inclined (because) it’s not strategically beneficial to us.”
  • "The feeling around the league" is that the Giants will eventually have to part ways with one of the two aces.
  • The team has had discussions about re-signing Travis Ishikawa, who is a minor league free agent.  Shoulder surgery limited Ishikawa to 56 games with Triple-A Fresno last season.

Giants Links: Beltran, Ross, Lincecum, Cain

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The Giants extended the contracts of GM Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy through 2013 earlier today. Here's the latest from San Fran…

  • Sabean told John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle that he will speak to Carlos Beltran's camp today (Twitter link). "It's a fluid situation as well as other conversations we're in," said the GM.
  • "There won't be any big splashes," said Sabean to Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News (on Twitter). He added that there would be no "sticker shock" acquisitions.
  • Sabean is "not sure" if the team will be able to re-sign Cody Ross, according to Baggarly (on Twitter).
  • Bobby Evans, the Giants vice president of baseball operations, said the team has exchanged "broad numbers and ideas" with Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain about contract extensions, reports Baggarly (on Twitter). Lincecum is reportedly seeking a one or two-year deal.

Giants Attempting To Extend Matt Cain

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While we heard earlier today that the Giants are more focused on a long-term extension for Tim Lincecum than fellow starter Matt Cain, team president Larry Baer says the club is trying to lock up Matt Cain as well, tweets SI.com's Jon Heyman. Heyman adds that the Giants may prefer deals of approximately four years.

Here are a few other items of interest from the National League West:

  • The Padres are preparing for the Rule 5 draft with some minor moves. They've requested waivers on Alberto Gonzalez, according to MLB.com's Corey Brock (Twitter link), and will remove Jeremy Hermida from the roster later in the week, according to Dan Hayes of the North County Times (via Twitter).
  • Rusty Ryal signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks after having spent a year in Japan, reports Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter).
  • The Rockies met with Milton Bradley's agents today, tweets Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.

NL West Rumors: Lincecum, Rockies, Dodgers

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The latest out of the NL West…

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