Entering the offseason, the San Francisco Giants made signing Tim Lincecum and his rotation-mate Matt Cain to long-term contract extensions their top priorities. We’re approaching January, and Giants general manager Brian Sabean has been unable to check either Lincecum or Cain off his to-do list. Not only that, but Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com is reporting that “there’s still a sizeable gap” in contract talks between Lincecum and the Giants.
Lincecum has stated that he’d love to remain in San Francisco, and the Giants would be crazy to let Timmy walk. Still, Heyman hears that both sides are “at least a couple years and tens of millions of dollars apart” in their talks of a contract extension.
San Francisco extended Lincecum a four-year, $80 million deal in the past few weeks, and Heyman believes the Giants may have increased this offer recently. This still figures to leave quite the gap Heyman is referring to, as Lincecum and his agent are looking for an eight-year contract.
Heyman says another sign that negotiations aren’t going well is that Lincecum and the Giants are “weighing one- and two-year options”. While both sides have said they would be willing to move forward with short-term deals in place, each would likely prefer to get a long-term contract nailed out instead.
Lincecum, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, is 27-years-old and isn’t set to hit free agency until after the 2013 season. Still, Timmy will continue to prove costly through arbitration, as he will receive another hefty raise from the $14 million he earned in 2011.
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