IT'S QUITE POSSIBLY the Giants worst nightmare — not being able to negotiate a long-term deal with Tim Lincecum, resulting in an astronomical arbitration settlement.
Baseball writer, Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, reported Tuesday that Lincecum and his agent, Rick Thurman of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, have considered submitting an arbitration figure o $23,000,001.
Why the extra $1? That amount would make Lincecum the highest paid pitcher in the game — by a McDonald's double-cheeseburger — over the Yankees' CC Sabathia.
I encourage you to read the article here, as Brown makes some compelling points in favor of Lincecum and his agent's case.
Basically, there is no precedent for a case like Lincecum's. No one has ever won the Cy young award in each of their first two full seasons, and the only NL pitchers to have won it in consecutive years are currently, or will soon be in Cooperstown (Sandy Kofax, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson). Besides, why shouldn't the best pitcher in baseball be compensated as such?
There's been a lot made about Barry Zito's deal and how that would be a likely jumping-off point for Lincecum's negotiations. Furthermore the Giants have long pointed to the elevated prices the Yankees pay for talent as a reason not to go after big-name free agents (i.e. Teixeira, Sabathia and presumably Holliday or Bay).
Now it appears the $18 million Zito gets per year may be a welcomed sight for Bill Neukom and his checkbook, and, despite not being willing to pay what the Yankees do for talent, they may be forced to do so anyway.
Comments
Pay the Man. He was getting peanuts the two years he won the Cy young.
So, is there a danger he would leave the giants if they don't fork over $23,000,001 mil a year to keep him? That's a lot. I remember the Sox paid Pedro 6 years/75 mil.
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