Tim Lincecum what is wrong with you?

[Mr. IWS]

Re: Tim Lincecum what is wrong with you?

This kid will be the highest paid pitcher in the game after the season he is finishing up.

[Mr. IWS]

Re: Tim Lincecum what is wrong with you?

That sound you heard was the Armour car backing up to the bank.

This kid is getting PAID!

NEW YORK (AP) - San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum won the NL Cy Young Award on Thursday for the second straight year, emerging from one of the tightest votes in the history of the honor to become the first repeat winner since Randy Johnson.
The wiry right-hander, nicknamed "The Freak" for his giant stride, needed only 15 victories to earn the award — the fewest for a Cy Young starter over a full season.
Lincecum led the NL with 261 strikeouts and tied for the league lead with four complete games and two shutouts.
Only 10 points separated the top three vote-getters in the NL. Chris Carpenter was second and St. Louis teammate Adam Wainwright finished third despite getting the most first-place votes.
The 2009 honors for Lincecum and Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke reflect a recent shift in how voters pick baseball's best pitchers. Wins, losses and ERA used to determine the Cy Young Award winner — now it's detailed statistics such as WHIP, FIP and VORP.
Greinke equaled the previous low of 16 wins when he won the AL award on Tuesday.
"The guys I was going up against, Wainwright and Carpenter, had tremendous seasons," the 25-year-old Lincecum said in a conference call. "It was a lucky one for me. I'll take them as they come I guess."
Lincecum received 11 first-place votes, 12 seconds and nine thirds for 100 points in balloting released by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Carpenter had nine firsts, 14 seconds and seven thirds to take second with 94.
Wainwright, who led the NL with 19 wins and 233 innings, had 12 first-place votes, five seconds and 15 thirds for 90 points. Trevor Hoffman, who finished behind Tom Glavine in 1998, is the only other player to get the most firsts and not win the award.
Two voters, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus and Keith Law of ESPN.com, did not include Carpenter on their ballots. Carroll had Wainwright in the top spot, Lincecum second and Arizona's Dan Haren third. Law voted for Lincecum, Atlanta's Javier Vazquez and Wainwright in third. Those were the only votes in any position for Haren and Vazquez.
The six-point gap between Lincecum and Carpenter is tied for the third-closest in the NL since the ballot expanded to three pitchers in 1970. The 10-point margin from first to third is the second-closest for the NL ballot.
Lincecum, who had a $650,000 salary and could be headed for a big raise, did not have any bonus provision for winning the award. Carpenter receives $100,000 for finishing second, Wainwright $100,000 for winding up third and Vazquez $70,000 for being voted fourth.
Lincecum teamed with Matt Cain to give the Giants a strong 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation, helping them stay in contention all year in one of baseball's biggest surprises. He went 15-7 with a 2.48 ERA in 32 starts and 225 1/3 innings.
Johnson, Lincecum's teammate this year in San Francisco, and Sandy Koufax are the only other pitchers to win consecutive NL Cy Young Awards. Johnson won four straight from 1999-2002 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Koufax was honored in 1965 and 1966 for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
San Francisco selected the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Lincecum with the 10th overall selection in the 2006 draft out of Washington, and he instantly became the organization's top pitching prospect since Hall of Famer Juan Marichal signed with the New York Giants as an amateur free agent in 1957. He made his major league debut in 2007 and is 40-17 with a 2.90 ERA in three seasons.

[Luke]

Re: Tim Lincecum what is wrong with you?

cha ching

[Guest]

Re: Tim Lincecum what is wrong with you?

[Mr. IWS]

Re: Tim Lincecum what is wrong with you?

back up the brinks truck. He will get even more when this contract is up. Yankees will be first in line for sure.

The Giants have reached a two-year, $23 million deal with right-hander Tim Lincecum, avoiding salary arbitration.

Lincecum had been set to ask for an arbitration-record $13 million salary for 2010 during a hearing Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Lincecum won back-to-back National League Cy Young awards in 2008 and 2009. He led the NL in strikeouts during both seasons and was also selected the All-Star team in both years.

Lincecum gets a $2 million signing bonus, $8 million this year, $13 million in 2011 and the chance to earn performance and award bonuses. The agreement is subject to a physical.

The tiny guy his teammates call "Franchise" and "Freak" is getting his nice raise from his $650,000 salary last year.

The 25-year-old right-hander said last week he thought the Giants might bring up his offseason marijuana arrest in Washington state during a hearing, but insisted there would be no hard feelings. He was hoping for a multiyear deal to stay put in San Francisco.

This has to be a big relief for both sides heading into the start of spring training next week in Scottsdale, Ariz. The Giants offered their ace $8 million when the parties exchanged numbers last month, and there was thought they might have lost and had to pay him even more come 2011. Lincecum, who is eligible for free agency after the 2013 season, said he realized through the process there's a tough business side to all this.

"Going to arbitration, everybody knows what can happen and the feelings that can get hurt," he said last week. "I'm just trying to keep an open mind. If anybody knows my flaws, I do. If they're going to point them out and that has to happen, then whatever. I know I've got to get better. I don't feel like my feelings are hurt."

Lincecum, already a two-time All-Star, owns a 40-17 record and 2.90 ERA with 676 strikeouts in three big league seasons. He won 18 games in his first Cy Young season of 2008, then 15 to win again last season after leading the league with 261 strikeouts and tying for top marks in the NL with four complete games and two shutouts.

Two other top pitchers recently received five-year contracts, with Detroit's Justin Verlander getting $80 million and Seattle's Felix Hernandez $78 million. Lincecum tried not to think too much about their deals and focus on his own situation.

On Jan. 19, the same day salary numbers were exchanged, Lincecum agreed to pay $513 to resolve marijuana charges against him in Washington state.

The pitcher originally faced two misdemeanor charges of marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession stemming from a traffic stop on Oct. 30. The charges were reduced to a civil infraction.

Lincecum appeared in Clark County District Court before Judge Darvin Zimmerman, and Giants managing partner Bill Neukom was in court in a sign of support for Lincecum.

He paid a speeding ticket separately.

"I think a lot of growing up has to do with experiences you go through, whether that be good or bad," Lincecum said after winning his second Cy Young. "There's different people who go through different experiences that shape them. It's unfortunate also that you have to go through the bumps, like I am going through, to get to where you think you need to be. It's just about changing yourself and looking for the right road to take instead of making it hard on yourself."