Two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants have reached a verbal agreement on a two-year contract worth about $40 million.Giants executive Bobby Evans announced the deal Tuesday. It is subject to a physical and avoids an arbitration hearing.
Lincecum had asked for a near-record $21.5 million in salary arbitration and had been offered $17 million by the club.
The 27-year-old, the winning pitcher in the Game 5 World Series clincher at Texas in 2010, earned $13.1 million last season when he completed a two-year deal worth $23.2 million.
The Giants and Lincecum reached an agreement on a contract this morning, but it won't guarantee that the beloved, two-time Cy Young Award winner will remain a Giant upon hitting free agency when he's eligible after the 2013 season. Lincecum will receive $40.5 million over two years. The contract only takes him through his final two seasons of arbitration eligibility.
McCovey Chronicles points out this tweet as a reminder that a future salary showdown has merely been delayed :
