Giants sign Bumgarner, then reach out to Lincecum, Posey, too

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SAN FRANCISCOThe Giants arent done wrapping up theirhomegrown stars. They want to conduct more business with Buster Posey andTim Lincecum, too.

After completing Madison Bumgarners five-year extension,Giants vice president Bobby Evans touched base with the agents for Lincecum andPosey on Monday, and said there was mutual interest in keeping both stars inGiants uniforms for the longer term.

Really, it was to remind them of our view of them as apriority, Evans said. Its reiterating what they already know. Wed like tosee them as Giants into the future.

The Giants already tried to sign Lincecum to a longer-termdeal that would buy out his free-agent years. The two-time Cy Young Awardwinner preferred a two-year structure for the contract he signed over thewinter, which only bought out the remainder of his arbitration years. He canbecome a free agent after the 2013 season.

I asked Giants CEO Larry Baer what Bumgarners extensionmeans in terms of providing budget certainty when making another run atLincecum. Baer hinted strongly that the interest to extend Lincecum would waneif his performance slips.

Weve made no secret about our strategy, Baer said. Wewant to lock up as many homegrown players as we can. It doesnt mean well beable to lock up every homegrown player.

First and foremost, its a baseball evaluation. We loveTimmy and we came to an agreement on a two-year deal. But well continue toevaluate everybody, including Timmy.

Evans said Mondays call to Poseys agent was the firstoverture towards negotiating a multiyear deal for the cleanup-hitting catcher.

With Buster, we had really limited conversations to oneyear, said Evans, who signed Posey to a 615,000 contract in the spring.There will be a time we want to readdress that and Buster knows that, too.

However, Evans said he did not expect contract negotiationsto begin during the season.

Its not a good practice, said Evans, explaining thatBumgarners deal was an exception because the two sides had made substantialprogress before opening day.

Thats why I thank Madison and his agent (Tom Little) forfinishing what we started, Evans said.

Bumgarners contract has two structures to account for theuncertainty over whether he will qualify for arbitration after this season as asuper two player. The top 22 percent of players with two-plus years ofservice time gain an extra year of arbitration eligibility. (It used to be thetop 17 percent under the previous collective bargaining agreement.)

Bumgarner is currently not forecasted to make the super-twocut, but that could change if other players with similar service time get sentdown to the minor leagues this year.

If Bumgarner is not a super-two, hell make 750,000 in2013, followed by salaries of 3.75 million, 6.75 million, 9.75 million and11.5 million.

If Bumgarner does qualify, he will make 3 million in 2013,followed by salaries of 5.5 million, 7 million, 10 million and 12 million.

The contract also includes two club options for 12 millionin 2018 and 19, and both have escalators based on the Cy Young Award. IfBumgarner wins the Cy Young at any point during the contract, both option yearswould be worth 16 million. If he has a second- or third-place finish in the CyYoung balloting at any point, the options would be worth 14 million.

Two more things about the option years:

The Giants have a buyout of 1.5 million that can apply toeither option year. And the first option can become guaranteed (not a playeroption) if Bumgarner throws 200 innings in 2017 or 400 innings between 2016-17.

Doing the math: If Bumgarner is a super-two, he maxes outboth options and the Giants exercise them, the total value of the contractcould be worth as much as 70.5 million.

Oh, and Bumgarner has a limited no-trade clause in which hecan name eight teams annually to which he cannot be dealt. The no-trade takeseffect this season.

And two more things about the contract in general:

Bumgarners 560,000 contract for this season, which wassigned in March, remains unchanged. Except he gets a 1 million signing bonusin the extension, half of which is payable this year and half next year.

Bumgarner, 22, said the extension made sense for his familyand hes thrilled to know hell be part of the same rotation with Matt Cain foryears to come.

Hes been a mentor to me my whole career, Bumgarner saidof Cain, who signed his five-year, 112.5 million extension two weeks ago. Itllbe a good thing for both of us.

Baer and Evans both talked about Bumgarners outstandingaccomplishments as well as his professionalism and temperament on the mound.Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he couldnt be happier for Bumgarner, who willstart Tuesday against the Phillies.

Great news for all of us, Bochy said. To have two-fifthsof our rotation tied up is a special thing.

Bochy said Bumgarners makeup is off the charts. So is hisconfidence. Asked about the Phillies vaunted rotation, Bumgarner said hellstack up the Giants against anyone.

They obviously have a good one, one of the best, but whoknows how good we can be? Bumgarner said. We can be just as good, if notbetter.

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