Melky Cabrera will have to wait on new contract

Melky Cabrera fell into the Giants’ laps. Now management’s job is keep him there.

But it won’t happen as long as the Giants and Cabrera are playing games this season. According to a report by CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, the Giants and Melky have agreed that their will be no agreement during the season.

But don’t worry. They will talk about a long-term extension for the Melk Man once the Giants have played their final game. It’s completely common for players to break off contract talks during the season. Many players feel like it will be a distraction and don’t want to answer questions from the media every day.

Speaking of talking to the media, Cabrera addressed the report with the media on Wednesday, but didn’t have much to say about it.

Melky’s contract discussions will be the focus of the Giants offseason. Everyone is curious to see how much Cabrera will ask for and how much the Giants are willing to offer him.

Heyman believes that before Cabrera ended talks with the Giants, the team made an offer similar to the three-year, $27 million deal that Carlos Quentin signed with the San Diego Padres at the end of July.

The Giants can guess from Cabrera’s reaction that they are going to have to pull a few more coins out of the piggy bank to make Melky happy. He’s making $6 million this year.

Cabrera, hitting .353 with a major league leading 152 hits, will likely demand a contract somewhere between Quentin’s deal and the five-year, $85 million deal Andre Ethier signed with the Dodgers.

Back in June, general manager Brian Sabean was asked if he thought Ethier’s deal was a template for Cabrera’s deal:

While Cabrera’s future is the most intriguing, the Giants now also have to think about re-signing Hunter Pence, who is arbitration-eligible after the season. He’s making $10.3 million this year, and will likely make more next year. The Giants might look to buy out his remaining year of arbitration and sign the two-time All-Star to a multi-year contract.