Manny still unsigned, Lincecum still good

March 2, 2:08 PMSan Francisco Giants ExaminerTheo Fightmaster

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Limcecum has an ERA of 0.00 this spring Eric Risberg/AP

The Dodgers and Manny Ramirez are at an impasse, and team owner Frank McCourt is seemingly at his wit's end.  He believes, however, that the negotiations will continue, but require a "fresh start."

Manny is still a last resort/pipe-dream for the Giants.  The Giants front office is very apprehensive to make a move for a player like Manny. 

New Managing General Partner, Bill Neukom, compared his predecessors acquisition of Barry Bonds in '92 to the potential splash he himself could make with Manny.

"He's (Ramirez) is a force of nature in the batter's box... But it’s not a comparable situation. Barry Bonds in 1992 was a five-tool player. He had every skill and he made every sense for the Giants. This is more complicated." -Bill Neukom

He's right.  Bonds was 27, he had roots in San Francisco, and the Giants organization was in a far more precarious place than they find themselves today.  It was only months prior to Bonds joining the team that the city had resigned itself to losing the team to Tampa Bay, Fl.  The new ownership group needed a big splash that would sustain interest and excitement  for years to come.  And at $43 million for seven years, the Giants certainly got more than they could have dreamed of.

Manny will turn 37 in two months, and he has a long track record of brief spouts of disinterest.  However, he's also one of the best hitters of all time, and would give this young team a realistic shot at postseason success. 

Another con for Manny has to be Scott Boras.  Brian Sabean and Larry Baer are likely a little shy about getting back into bed with Scott Boras after the disaster we now know as "the Barry Zito Contract."

♦  Tim Lincecum is still good.  I mean really good.

In his second outing of the spring Lincecum needed only 27 pitches (19 of which were strikes) to throw three perfect innings against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Cy Young faced the minimum and struck out two in a game that meant more to Lincecum than most Cactus League contests, thanks to his rocky past against the Brewers. During his first spring in the big leagues, Lincecum was hit hard by the Brewers.  Milwaukee was also responsible for one of his worst professional outings, where he was battered and beat in Milwaukee back in 2007.  To thicken the plot Lincecum will start the regular season on opening day (April 7) against the Brew Crew, and be presented with his 2008 Cy Young award prior to the start of game two of the series on Wednesday night, April 8th.

The Giants improved to 2-3 on the spring with both wins coming in Lincecum starts.

The young hitting has been adequate thus far this spring. Sunday, John Bowker added the offense with a three run homer in the sixth to put the Giants ahead for good. Youngsters Buster Posey and Jesus Guzman added to the win as well, driving in a run with a sacrifice fly and contributing an RBI triple respectively.

 Box Score

 ♦ Orlando Cabrera an Athletic short stop.

A name that was bandied about earlier in the off-season as a potential Giant inked a one year deal with Oakland earlier Monday.  The deal is reportedly worth $4 million for one season, and most certainly ends the Bobby Crosby era in Oakland.  A's Examiner Scott Sabatini has more, as does SF Baseball Examiner Claire Reclosado.