Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants Agree on 2-Year, $40.5M Deal

Several media outlets are reporting the San Francisco Giants have agreed on a two-year, $40.5 million deal with hard-throwing righthander Tim Lincecum.

According to the reports, Lincecum will earn $18 million in 2012 and $22 million next year, in addition to receiving a $500,000 signing bonus.

As usual, the deal – which was completed on Tuesday (Jan. 24) – is contingent upon Lincecum passing a physical examination next week.

Though sources say the Giants organization and Lincecum had discussed deals beyond 2 years (including a 5-year offer worth $100 million), the two-time Cy Young winner ultimately rejected them, only feeding fans’ fears that Lincecum wants out after 2013 due to the club’s perennially weak offense.

Tim’s agent, Rick Thurman, however, told Mercury News that those fears – of Lincecum bolting as soon as he is a free agent – are unwarranted.

“Although we were not able to work out a longer-term deal, we found common ground in a two-year deal,” Thurman stated. “This doesn’t preclude continued negotiations for Tim to remain a Giant for the rest of his career.”

Once his new contract is official, Lincecum will become the highest-paid Giant ever by average annual contract value.

His average of $20.25 million a year bests the $18 million that Barry Bonds and Barry Zito averaged with their big contracts.

Lincecum — the 10th overall draft pick out of Washington in 2006 — is 69-41 with a 2.98 earned run average and 1,127 strikeouts in five seasons as a MLB pitcher.

Although he went 13-14 with a 2.74 ERA last year for his first losing record, those numbers are more of a reflection of the Giants offense as the team scored no runs while he was in the game in seven of 33 starts, had one run six times and two runs five times, according to STATS LLC.

In the clip below, MLB.com analysts Jeremy Brisiel and Jim Duquette talk about Tim Lincecum‘s new two-year deal with the Giants: