Giants Notes: Cain, Lincecum, Ishikawa

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.