Giants Should Not Resign Cain at the Expense of Lincecum

As most people already know, Matt Cain is in the final year of his contract with the San Francisco Giants and could leave the team as a free agent at season’s end. Everyone wants to see the Giants sign him to a new contract and the Giants certainly want to give him a new contract before the season starts.  I too, want to see the Giants give Cain a new contract as Cain has been a valuable member of the Giants rotation since he came into the league in 2005.

However, I do not want to see the Giants sign Cain to such a big contract that it forces Tim Lincecum to leave the team after the 2013 season.  Most people seem to think that the Giants should focus on signing Cain this year and worry about Lincecum next year, since Lincecum is still under contract for two more years. The problem is that Cain’s signing has a direct impact on Lincecum’s signing. Whatever contract Cain is given, Lincecum is going to want a bigger contract. Cain’s contract is going to determine how much money Lincecum wants.

As good as Cain has been for the Giants, he is not the ace of the team. Lincecum has and always will be the best pitcher on the Giants rotation as long as he is with the team. Lincecum has won two Cy Young awards, Cain has none. Lincecum has the same amount of career wins as Cain in fewer seasons. He also has more strikeouts and a better ERA in his career than Cain.  Lincecum knows he is a better pitcher than Cain and he will demand more money than Cain as a result.

This is why the Giants need to be careful what kind of contract they offer Cain.  If Cain demands being one of the highest paid pitchers in baseball, forget it. That would mean signing Cain to a seven year contract with around 20 million dollars annually. If a pitcher like Cain can get that kind of contract from the Giants, what do you think Lincecum is going to expect to get? He will want an eight year deal or even a ten year deal worth 25 million dollars annually. If the team ended up giving Cain a contract as big as Barry Zito’s seven year deal, they certainly wouldn’t be able to afford giving out another contract like that to Lincecum also. If they did, they would have a small budget for the rest of their team and couldn’t keep any of their hitters nor bring in new free agents. The Giants are not the Yankees and they can’t spend like them.            

So basically the Giants have to choose between the two pitchers which one they want to give the ridiculous contract too. While I would prefer neither pitcher to get a Barry Zito type of contract, if I had to choose I would give Lincecum the ridiculous contract. If there is any pitcher in the Major Leagues that deserves a ridiculous contract it is Lincecum. Considering how much success Lincecum had when he was still being paid the league minimum, he has more than earned it.  Cain has been great, but not Lincecum great.  So I would rather risk losing Cain to free agency and keep Lincecum than keeping Cain and risk losing Lincecum.

That is why the Giants have to be careful what they offer Cain. I would offer Cain a five year contract around 15 million a year and a team option for a sixth year. Then Lincecum can demand for a contract around seven years with a team option for an eighth year for 20 million a year. While that is still a lot of money to give to two pitchers it wouldn’t be as bad as giving Lincecum a 10 year contract. If Cain wants more than five years on his contract, let him walk. Who knows, he might test the free agent market and find out he is only worth five years and takes the Giants offer. If he leaves, then the Giants have more money to give their ace pitcher and get compensation draft picks for losing Cain. This would help the Giants in the long run. What the Giants cannot do is set the bar so high for Cain that they give Lincecum leverage to demand a contract never seen in Major League baseball. That would be not only bad for the Giants but bad for baseball in general.