The latest out of the NL West…
- Signing Tim Lincecum to a multiyear deal is at the top of the Giants' agenda, reports SI's Jon Heyman. The Giants are aiming for at least a four-year deal, which would buy out two years of free agency. Though Matt Cain is a year closer to free agency, Heyman says the focus is more on Lincecum. Heyman believes Lincecum's agents at Beverly Hills Sports Council could file as high as $25MM in arbitration this winter, in my opinion a risky move if the Giants come in around $20MM. For more on Lincecum's historic arbitration case, click here.
- The Rockies will not dabble financially in marginal players, explained GM Dan O'Dowd to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. They do have interest in Paul Maholm, Jeff Francis, and J.C. Romero, though, according to Renck, after bigger free agent targets such as Grady Sizemore and Roy Oswalt.
- The Dodgers will lower their payroll in 2012, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times. The team's opening day payroll was about $120MM in 2011. So far this offseason they've added $6.5MM in 2012 salaries for Mark Ellis and Juan Rivera. Here's my offseason outlook for the club.
- Unlike Ellis' deal, Aaron Hill's new contract with the Diamondbacks is not backloaded. He'll earn $5.5MM in each of the '12 and '13 seasons, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Piecoro has an updated look at Arizona's payroll, and concludes that they'd need to non-tender Joe Saunders to be able to afford one of the better free agent pitchers on the market. MLBTR readers are split remarkably evenly as to whether Saunders will be tendered a contract on December 12th.
RE: “The Rockies will not dabble financially in marginal players, explained GM Dan O’Dowd to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. They do have interest in Paul Maholm, Jeff Francis, and J.C. Romero, though.”
–Last I checked, Paul Maholm, Jeff Francis and J.C. Romero are as marginal as it gets. Of course, if they all decide to play for free, there will be no “financial dabbling”.
HAHAHA! I was thinking the same thing.
There’s not one player from the bunch (Paul Maholm, Jeff Francis and J.C. Romero) that did anything in 2011 that would indicate to me they are going to have a good 2012.
HAHAHA! I was thinking the same thing.
There’s not one player from the bunch (Paul Maholm, Jeff Francis and J.C. Romero) that did anything in 2011 that would indicate to me they are going to have a good 2012.
You beat me to it, Haymaker…I was thinking pretty much that exact thing to myself…well, that and that they already do enough of that (dabble financially in marginal players) as it is…I, for the life of me and as hard as I try to, cannot understand this team’s logic…at all…they will miss the boat on Prado and settle for yet another middling year from some wily veteran in the twilight of his career…baffling…
You beat me to it, Haymaker…I was thinking pretty much that exact thing to myself…well, that and that they already do enough of that (dabble financially in marginal players) as it is…I, for the life of me and as hard as I try to, cannot understand this team’s logic…at all…they will miss the boat on Prado and settle for yet another middling year from some wily veteran in the twilight of his career…baffling…
Read the entire sentence. They said after Sizemore and Oswalt, they are not marginal free agents. If they do not land those 2 they will have no choice but to fill the hole with the next best.
I read it. It’ a hell of a fall from Oswalt to Francis or Maholm. They are NOT the next best. I also focused on the words “WILL NOT” in regard to the financial dabbling on marginal players. ‘Will not’ means ‘will not’, regardless of the other circumstances. O’Dowd has stated that he’s comfortable with in-house options if he can’t acquire what he wants, although that’s most likely just posturing. Hopefully he sticks to his guns, as doing nothing would be better than throwing a couple million towards Francis.
Read the entire sentence. They said after Sizemore and Oswalt, they are not marginal free agents. If they do not land those 2 they will have no choice but to fill the hole with the next best.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Cain signed an extension at or a little below market value to stay in SF, but I really don’t think Lincecum will let just 2 free agent years in his prime be bought out and hit free agency at age 31. He won’t settle for anything less than Sabathia money.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Cain signed an extension at or a little below market value to stay in SF, but I really don’t think Lincecum will let just 2 free agent years in his prime be bought out and hit free agency at age 31. He won’t settle for anything less than Sabathia money.
good call. And he should be asking for that money. I think the bigger question will be years, Timmy will want 7+. Your thoughts?
I don’t know, at this point I would be surprised if he returns to the Giants because he sounds totally against an extension and wants to go to a team that actually scores runs as soon as possible.
He’s already on a team that wins, i think as long as he gets paid long-term he’ll stay. He has no reason to leave SF if they give him the contract
Now I don’t know if you’re from around here, but there have been countless games where the Giants blew a lead and either lost or won after Lincecum was out of the game. He’s a competitor and cares about the team but I think personal wins mean something to him and that he believes that he could get more and bolster his status better elsewhere, that’s why he’s not open to shorter extensions.
If he hits free agency and a perennial contender matches SF’s offer, I wouldn’t be surprised if he left.
I am from around here, have season tickets. Let’s not discount he’s won 2 CY Youngs, a World Series ring & .627% career winning percentage. He even said he doesn’t want the pressure of a long-term deal (might be bull??).
Point being in this day & age of bullpens, he is still winning a lot of games, a lot of personal accolades, team accolades and is living his life. There’s a reason not every pitcher on the Yankees has 20 wins, it just isnt guaranteed
O’Dowd is stuck in 2007, when the Rockies were good, Francis was good, Maholm was almost good, and Romero still wafted the rotting stink of good.
O’Dowd is stuck in 2007, when the Rockies were good, Francis was good, Maholm was almost good, and Romero still wafted the rotting stink of good.
Lincecum would be foolish to let the Giants buy out just 2 years of FA. That would mean he would not hit FA until the 2016 season. In effect the Giants would be getting his “prime” years at a relative bargain. Then he would be 32 years old in June the first year of FA and probably would NOT command anywhere the package he would command if he hit FA for the 2014 season going on 30 years old during that season (2014).
Lincecum would be foolish to let the Giants buy out just 2 years of FA. That would mean he would not hit FA until the 2016 season. In effect the Giants would be getting his “prime” years at a relative bargain. Then he would be 32 years old in June the first year of FA and probably would NOT command anywhere the package he would command if he hit FA for the 2014 season going on 30 years old during that season (2014).
$90 M over 5 years for Timmy and $65 M over 4 for Cain!
more like… AT LEAST $115 M over 5 years for timmy and $80 M over 4 for cain
$90 M over 5 years for Timmy and $65 M over 4 for Cain!
i think it’s apparent Lincecum wants to be a free agent ASAP
looks like he wants the longest contract for a pitcher in history, which would translate to most money. That’s a tough call for any pitcher to sign him to YEARS, no matter how good that pitcher is.
lincy had said he prefer 1 year deals heading up to free agency. who knows how long his little body can take so i’ll think he’ll want to maximize his security as a free agent.
If Lincecum signs a big contract now, he has the security. If he waits to be a free agent and gets injuried, he gets nothing.
If Lincecum signs an extension now, he’ll get below what he would than becoming a FA. If he waits to be a free agent and keeps pitching the way he does, he’ll get everything.
It goes both ways.
How the heck could Lincecum justify anything close to that arbitration filing. He’s coming off a salary of $13M. No arbitrator will award him a raise of nearly 100% that makes him the highest paid pitcher (annual salary) in baseball
Jon Heyman just said the first number that came to his mind
I think he wants a 2 yr deal saying “Get me some offense or I’m outta here!” San Francisco is THE perfect place for Timmy with the weather and laid back lifestyle. I don’t think he’d like NY or BOS or LA.
Hmmmm weather and laid back lifestyle, sounds a lot like LA to me…
By weather, I mean, Timmy prefers cold weather. He doesn’t do as well on hot days. And Northern Cal is WAY more chill than So. Cal.
SF is LA without some of the gang violence, racism, and murder.
wtf does this even mean?