The Phillies lost one free agent option today when the San Francisco Giants reportedly agreed to terms with free agent pitcher Tim Lincecum, reports many sources including CBS Sports' Jon Heyman:
so giants do what they wanted, locking up pence and lincecum, who is believed to have received $35M.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) October 22, 2013
Heyman reports that Lincecum received a full no-trade clause as part of the deal, too.
Our Greg Vince had Lincecum atop his free agent wish list the other day. On a short deal, Lincecum will try to rebuild value after the two worst seasons of his career. In 2012 Lincecum went 10-15 with a 5.18 ERA and followed that up with a 2013 where he went 10-14 and a 4.37 ERA, hardly numbers for someone earning $20 million a year.
While high, $35 million is far less than the $100 million the Giants reportedly offered Lincecum before the 2012 season. The deal is still risky for the Giants; $17.5 million a year is a lot to be tied up in a pitcher who could be the 2012 or 2013 pitcher all over again. But, the Giants did pay Barry Zito about that per year the last seven years for much less production. Lincecum could be a better risk to take for that kind of money.
Good luck, Giants.
