2 time Cy Young winner and arbitration eligible Tim Lincecum is headed into uncharted territories with his contract for 2010. He’s considered a Super 2 in the arbitration eligible world. This means that he has at least 2 years of Major League service time and less than 3 years of service time, and he falls within the top 17% of service time among those players between the 2 and 3 year mark. Got it? I created Salary Arbitration for Dummies just in case.
By January 19, 2010, Lincecum and his agent will submit a salary figure to a three person panel. Additionally, the San Francisco Giants will submit a salary figure to the same panel. Unless a deal is agreed upon by both parties, they will all attend a hearing where each side will make a case regarding what Lincecum should be paid. Because of a “special provision” (aka winning back-to-back Cy Young’s) he’ll be compared to the big money pitchers such as teammate Barry Zito and C. C. Sabathia. Lincecum and the Giant’s want to settle this before it comes to a hearing since either one will lose and it may cause bad blood since both sides may have to bring up negatives of each other.
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Lincecum and his agent have made it known that they are seeking a one year contract as opposed to locking himself in with a long-term deal before he’s free agent after the 2012 season. Before the 2008 season, Ryan Howard set a record breaking arbitration decision by paid $10 million rather than the $7 million the Phillies offered. Howard, and his agent Casey Close submitted an $18 million request before the 2009 season, but this was settled beforehand with a $54 million deal that lasts through the 2011 season.
I was expecting Lincecum to get a $1-2 million deal, but given his “special provision” he’ll definitely blow away Howard’s $10 million decision. He’ll then do it all over again before the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
Related posts:
- Salary arbitration for dummies
- Dissecting the NL Cy Young
- Feliz $5.5 million team option not picked up by Phillies
- Noah Lowry's option will not be picked up by Giants
- Giants interested in keeping Brad Penny
