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Tim Lincecum

Sabean On Lincecum, Sandoval, Bonds, Posey

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Giants GM Brian Sabean tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that the Giants were determined to draft Tim Lincecum in 2006. Sabean avoided watching him pitch in person because he was worried someone else would take him and he didn't want other teams to know how serious the Giants were. Here are some highlights from the interview:

  • Sabean says the Dodgers are the best team in the NL. 
  • He says the Giants could have used a high-profile player to distract from Barry Bonds once Jeff Kent left.
  • Sabean is confident the Giants want to keep him on as GM. 
  • The Giants aren't sure what position Pablo Sandoval will play long-term. 
  • Sabean is non-commital on the future of the catcher position. Bengie Molina's a free agent after the season and top prospect Buster Posey has reached Triple A.

More Reactions To The Alex Rios Trade

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More reactions to the biggest deal we've seen this August…

  • ESPN.com's Keith Law says the White Sox can afford Alex Rios since they have a hole in center field, salaries coming off the books and a deep enough system to afford the price of "no players."
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the White Sox are making risky, fascinating moves.
  • Danny Knobler of CBS Sports doubts the Blue Jays can win next year, even with Roy Halladay around. It takes a special team to win in the AL East and Knobler suggests the Jays don't have enough talent.
  • White Sox GM Kenny Williams picked up a $56 ticket for jaywalking in Seattle yesterday, according to MLB.com's Christian Caple. He committed a million times as much to Alex Rios.
  • Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reminds us that the Giants at least considered a Tim Lincecum–Alex Rios swap less than two years ago.

Tim Lincecum Contract Update

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As one of the best pitchers in the game, Tim Lincecum can expect a massive payday when he goes to arbitration for the first time after this season. However, as Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News points out, the Giants could have saved themselves millions by keeping Lincecum in the minors for another month early in his rookie season. 

He began the year by overwhelming the Triple A competition, so the Giants called him up on May 6th. That allowed him to collect extra service, so he's now expected to gain Super Two status after the season. As a result, he'll go to arbitration four times, instead of three. The Giants weren't going anywhere in 2007; a more cautious approach would have saved them millions.

Lincecum and his agent, Rick Thurman, appear to be content to negotiate salaries year-to-year. The Giants haven't discussed a long-term deal with their ace since the season began, but Lincecum's representatives are open to a multi-year contract.

Heyman On Bonifacio, Lincecum, Garcia

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A look at Jon Heyman's new column at SI.com…

  • Heyman writes in praise of the Marlins for acquiring Emilio Bonifacio as part of the Josh Willingham–Scott Olsen deal last November.  Contrast that with Ken Rosenthal, who spoke to a scout a week ago who was not impressed with Bonifacio.
  • Heyman hasn't found any evidence that the Giants are close to signing Tim Lincecum to an extension.
  • Heyman says that Freddy Garcia's contract doesn't have an out clause, but "it's generally understood that if another big-league team is ready to give him a shot, the Mets would either try to find room for him or let him go."  Garcia has apparently looked good in extended spring training.

No Deadline For Lincecum Talks

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Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News spoke to several people about a possible long-term contract for Giants ace Tim Lincecum.

The team's president, Larry Baer, expressed a willingness to discuss an extension during the season.  Lincecum would also be fine with that, as he'll let his agent Rick Thurman handle the talks.  General manager Brian Sabean said he remains open to an extension for Lincecum, but admitted, "Going year to year may not be a bad option at this point."  Sabean referred to Lincecum extension talks as a "back-burner issue."

Sabean notes that Lincecum stands to get paid once he enters arbitration, anyway.  Baggarly says Lincecum profiles as a Super Two player after this season, meaning he'll go to arbitration four times in his career instead of the normal three.  Back in February, the Giants threw a few hundred thousand dollars in goodwill money toward Lincecum, signing him at $650K even though the pitcher and his agent had no say in it.  Baggarly talked to an industry source who believes a Lincecum extension would exceed Cole Hamels' three years and $20.5MM.  Hamels is also a Super Two, so his contract doesn't take him through all his arbitration years.

In another article, Baggarly talks about the possibility of an extension for Sabean.  New managing general partner Bill Neukom and Sabean have exchanged ideas about objectives for Sabean that could lead to a new contract.  Manager Bruce Bochy's contract is also up after the season.

Thursday Pre-Arbitration Signings

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7:41pm: The Miami Herald has a list of eight players who agreed to terms with the A’s for 2009. Daric Barton, Kurt Suzuki, Dallas Braden, Dana Eveland, Gio Gonzalez, Sean Gallagher, Henry Rodriguez and Landon Powell all agreed to one-year contracts.

12:27pm: According to a press release, via the Miami Herald, the Brewers have inked Tony Gwynn Jr., Manny Parra, Hernan Iribarren and Chase Wright to one-year contracts.

11:48am: The Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett has a few more from the Angels.  Howie Kendrick, Dustin Moseley, Kevin Jepsen and Matt Brown have been signed to ’09 contracts.

9:53am: MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports that the Diamondbacks have agreed to one-year contracts with Yusmeiro Petit, Leo Rosales and Kyler Newby.  They’ll each make around $400K this year.

9:50am: According to a press release, via the Miami Herald, the Cubs have now settled with all 20 of their pre-arbitration players.  Sean Marshall, Mike Fontenot and Micah Hoffpauir are some of the bigger names on the list.

9:49am: Jose De Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros have renewed Hunter Pence’s contract.  He’ll earn $450K in ’09.

9:41am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a few more pre-arbitration signings.  2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum was inked for $650K, Angels pitcher Joe Saunders settled for $475K, Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol for $575K and Cubs infielder Ryan Theriot for $500K.

These are all guys without enough MLB service time to be eligible for salary arbitration.

Multiyear Talks For Lincecum?

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7:24pm: MLB.com’s Chris Haft also spoke to Lincecum’s agent, Rick Thurman.  Despite being at Giants’ camp Thurman has no immediate talks scheduled with the team.  Thurman spoke about the possible length of a multiyear deal anyway:

Thurman explained that in Lincecum’s case, he and the Giants might negotiate by forecasting his performance and corresponding salary levels for the next five seasons, which would take him into his free-agency eligibility.

1:57pm: According to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, Tim Lincecum’s agent is at the Giants’ camp and has already had preliminary discussions about a long-term deal for his client.  Lincecum is likely to be a Super Two player, meaning he’ll be arbitration-eligible four times instead of the standard three.  Cole Hamels’ deal could be a model, in my opinion.

No Long Term Talks With Giants, Lincecum

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Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says there are no immediate plans to discuss a long-term contract with Tim Lincecum. Schulman says a team executive said this morning that a deal does remain a possibility before Lincecum becomes arbitration eligible. Schulman writes,

"Many such long-term contracts are signed this time of year in lieu of one-year deals that teams can impose on players with less than three years of service time. The signing period for these deals is March 2-11. Noah Lowry and Matt Cain both signed four-year contracts to buy out some of their arbitration years."

Lincecum is eligible for free agency after the 2013 season and is open to signing a one-year deal and revisiting contract talks. Schulman reminds us that if he signed a deal, he would earn less but it would be guaranteed money instead of non-guaranteed through arbitration.

Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News adds that neither side seems concerned and that Lincecum would be receptive to a multi-year contract, according to his agent. Baggarly writes,

"The Giants shortly will begin negotiating salaries for their ’zero-to-three’ players. They must agree to terms with them before March 11, at which point they must renew the contract of any unsigned players — and unilaterally assign any salary they please above the league minimum ($400,000). A renewal isn’t usually a happy prospect. The Giants couldn’t recall the last time they had to renew a player and Evans didn’t expect that to happen with Lincecum, who made $405,000 last year. The two sides are certain to exchange ideas on a multiyear contract. Where it goes from there is anyone’s guess."

Rosenthal On Perez, Manny, Pirates

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Another new column from the hard-working Ken Rosenthal.

  • Rosenthal doesn’t believe that the market for Oliver Perez is limited to the Mets; it’s more that they’re the only interested team we know about.  Two teams we can cross off are the Rangers and Cubs.  The Mets want to do three years for Perez while Scott Boras wants five.  The Mets’ plan is to sign one of Perez, Randy Wolf, or Ben Sheets and then add a cheaper arm like Freddy Garcia.
  • Rosenthal believes the Giants could justify signing Manny Ramirez as an attempt to "max out" while they still have Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum (they have Cain through 2011, Lincecum through 2013).
  • Rosenthal notes that free agents who accept offers of arbitration do not have guaranteed contracts.  However, players such as Orlando Cabrera and Jason Varitek would’ve had to be released for clear baseball reasons, not to save money.  Otherwise the teams would be in hot water with the Players Association.
  • Rosenthal notes that Scott Boras has worked out two-year deals covering arbitration years for past clients such as Matt Holliday and Mark Teixeira, so the current Prince Fielder talks don’t signify a change.
  • The Pirates have no need to shed payroll.

Lincecum Open To Long-Term Deal

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Back in August, Tim Lincecum’s agent was telling reporters he preferred going year-to-year.  Lincecum won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2013 season.  However, Lincecum told John Shea yesterday that he’s now open to an extension.

The Giants would probably have to pay at least $15MM for Lincecum’s three arbitration years (unless he’s a Super Two) plus at least $12MM for each free agent year.

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