The Giants just got rid of Barry Zito‘s contract, so they gave all that money to Tim Lincecum in a two year deal:
The Giants love Lincecum, a two-time Cy Young winner, and showed how much they wanted to keep him with this contract to pay him an average of $17.5 million a year, first reported by CBSSports.com.
While the Giants are thrilled to get a nice start on their winter, this has to be a record price for a pitcher who has a 4.76 ERA over his last two seasons. Lincecum, 29, also receives a full no-trade clause in the deal, negotiated by Rick Thurman of Beverly Hills Sports Council, Lincecum’s longtime agent. Thurman is also the longtime agent for Pence.
That’s certainly better than seven years, but the Giants must think that Tim is going to bounce back. He is striking out one fewer batters per nine innings compared to his last time he led the league in that category. He did get his control back in 2013 after a poor 2012, but his home runs allowed remain high. It’s not a horrible gamble, and Tim will be set to afford weed for life!
The fact that Lincecum signed a 2 year deal with an AAV not much higher than a QO suggests this season is no fluke and he has something physically wrong with him that he does not figure to recover from.
Otherwise he takes the QO and plans on having a great season in 2014 to take with him on the FA market.
Giants probably have his contract insured and Lincecum is a popular player that draws fans and sells merchandise, so that explains their position.
I don’t disagree with pft, but I also think the team may have an emotional attachment to Lincecum that clouds their judgment. Even hard-hearted ball clubs like people sometimes, and that leads them to make decisions based on their hopes rather than on what’s likely to happen.