It was a stellar debut year for a few young pitchers last year. Most notable, despite Clay Buchholz's incredible no-hitter on Sept. 1, was probably Giants hurler Tim Lincecum's debut season. It's rare for a young pitcher to get so much work in his first season, but Lincecum responded to the challenge with aplomb and, you know, really nasty stuff. 2007 proved it: Tim Lincecum's future is bright. But it looks like the Giants are not all that interested in that future. Jayson Stark reported today on ESPN's winter meetings blog that San Fransisco is actively trying to deal Lincecum for the Blue Jays' Alex Rios:
• The Giants and Blue Jays have a deal on the table that would send outfielder Alex Rios to San Francisco for pitcher Tim Lincecum. But the Blue Jays appear to be more motivated to make that trade than the Giants. Two baseball men who spoke with the Giants describe them as being "indecisive" about whether they really want to move Lincecum for a big bat and, if they do, about whom they should get for him. Toronto has decided its best strategy to survive in the loaded AL East is to stockpile as many power arms as possible. So the Blue Jays would sacrifice offense if they could pick up an arm like Lincecum.Rios is an awfully big bat to trade, but Lincecum is a potential world beater. The Jays want him to be a Red Sox and Yankees beater, too, though that might be a bit too much to ask.
Last question(s): What are the Giants thinking here? Isn't it time to rebuild? Barry's gone ... isn't youth the thing? Why trade Lincecum now, when he's just beginning to broach his talent?
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
the giants really shouldnt trade lincecum. he has a great fastball and could be the ace in the future. adding alex rios this year will not be enough to win
If you watch Lincecum pitch carefully, you will note that he puts a tremendous strain on his arm with his unorthodox delivery. I believe that the Giants braintrust feel that he will eventually break down with a sore arm and it would be better to trade him now before that happens.
There have been other pitchers with unorthodox deliveries that strain thier arm....kevin brown comes to mind. he had over 200 wins. i believe he had a few injuries but he still had a very productive career.
isnt pitching supposed to win games...? matt and tim are the present and future of the giants...as a giant fan, say before we play the padres, i dont think,
'uh oh, we have to face adrian gonzalez'. when i see
that we will miss peavy and/or young, i am grateful.
while hitters like pujols and guerroro are respected, as well they shud - it's good pitching that players and fans fear... walk pujols or pitch around him but to face a real good pitcher for 7+ innings, that's fear...DO NOT TRADE MATT OR TIM
If one looks closely at Tim Lincecum's arm during his delivery, he sees not that Tim puts a lot of strain on the arm, but that his explosive body somewhat carries his arm along for the ride.
Let's put it this way. Will Carroll is perhaps baseball's top medical writer. Will Carroll has said both that he would start his franchise for the next ten years (beginning with the 2007 season, since he made the comment a year ago, when Tim had yet to throw a pitch above Class A) and that he wouldn't trade Tim for any other pitcher in the game.
Would Will say that if he were at all worried about Tim's having an above-average chance of injury? To the contrary, Will has wondered aloud that if Tim has the level of success Will expects from him, will it be possible to teach other pitchers his motion in order to take strain OFF their arms?
Carlos Gomez also knows a lot about pitching mechanics, writing frequently about the mechanics of specific pitchers. He also loves Tim's mechanics.
I believe your comments here are 180 degrees out.