Tim Lincecum’s agent says talks with Giants have been insignificant, expects arbitration case to reach hearing stage Posted by Andrew Baggarly on February 2nd, 2010 at 4:26 pm The agent for right-hander Tim Lincecum said the Giants have not engaged in significant contract negotiations and he is convinced the two-time Cy Young award winner’s arbitration case will reach the hearing stage. Rick Thurman said the Giants have not discussed a one-year deal and talks have been limited to “some very insignificant two-year conversations,” which leads him to believe that “it’s quite clear the case is headed to a hearing.”The agent said he was surprised at the minimal level of conversation from the Giants, adding, “I think that’s the direction (a hearing) they’ve wanted this go from Day One simply because there’s been little or no discussions with regards to a contract.” Giants vice president Bobby Evans, who is handling all direct negotiations, disagreed with the agent’s contention that the club sought out a hearing from the beginning. “I respectfully disagree and I’ll leave it at that,” Evans said. The Giants and Lincecum exchanged salary offers two weeks ago; the Giants filed at $8 million, the highest number offered by a club to a player with less than three years of service time. Lincecum’s camp filed at $13 million, a record-setting number that many in the industry still considered low. Industry sources said that it made sense for Thurman to file a “winnable” number if he expected the case to reach a hearing. Once at that stage, an arbiter considers the evidence, hears arguments and chooses one salary or another- with no middle ground. “We prepared this case from Day One to go (to a hearing), and that still appears to be the case,” Thurman said. Evans said negotiations have been ongoing with Lincecum’s camp even before figures were exchanged on Jan. 19. Hearings take place between Feb. 1-20, and while neither side would disclose the date that Lincecum will appear on the docket, industry sources said it’s likely to come near the end of the schedule. Major League Baseball prefers to save the bigger cases for the end to minimize the impact on other arbitration proceedings — and Lincecum’s case is one of the biggest in the history of the process. So it’s possible Lincecum’s salary won’t be established when he reports to spring training along with the rest of pitchers and catchers on Feb. 17. However it plays out, two things are clear. First, Lincecum will remain under club control for four more seasons, so there’s no danger that he won’t be available to take the mound for the Giants on opening day. And second, Lincecum won’t work cheap anymore. http://is.gd/7AVRM --

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