Good news San Fran sports fans: Looks like Giants president Larry Baer is looking to sport the long-haired Timmy wig and a “Yes We Cain” sign for a couple more seasons.
SI.com confirmed this morning that Baer is trying to lock down two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum and fellow super-starter Matt Cain to multi-year contract extensions.
Exciting stuff! Especially since both Cain and Lincecum are approaching free agency, and contract extensions would keep both men in orange and black.
It doesn’t take a die-hard Giants fan to tell you that these are two of the major faces of this team’s pitching staff. Losing either pitcher would definitely put a dent in “fanship.” (And in merchandise sales, since about half the crowd at a Giants game will show up in caps adorned with Lincecum’s signature brown tresses.)
But crowd appeal isn’t the only reason the Gigantes need to keep Big Daddy Cain and Big Time Timmy Jim on their staff. Despite averaging a career-low nine strikeouts per inning last season, Lincecum exited 2011 with a 2.75 ERA and is still cranking out over 200 strikeouts per full season. And Cain gave up only nine home runs all year, holding batters to a .217 batting average.
Sure, lengthy contracts will mean a pull at the Giants’ purse strings, with the possibility of exceeding $40 million by the end of a three-to-four year stretch for both pitchers.
Then again, the Giants are also throwing a lot of money at some unproductive guy named Zito.
But that’s a whole other argument for a whole other article.
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