The Los Angeles Angels have been the rumored destination for Tim Lincecum for the better part of a week. According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the two sides will make it official on Friday.
Sources: Tim Lincecum's deal likely to be completed w/ Angels Friday. Base salary for just short of $2m, with incentives on top of that.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) May 19, 2016
Jon Heyman of the MLB Network later reported that the deal is worth a prorated $2.5 million with about $1.7 million in incentives.
The terms sound about right. That’s definitely a downgrade from what Lincecum had been getting, but $2 million isn’t exactly chump change, especially for a pitcher with as many question marks as this vet possesses.
Given the injuries and overall ineffectiveness of their starting rotation, Lincecum is likely to get a real look as a starter again. How well he will do is really anyone’s guess.
Lincecum’s career has had two dramatically different paths.
What Tim Lincecum are the Angels getting? pic.twitter.com/6UnvSXmPlZ
— Sportsnaut (@Sportsnaut) May 20, 2016
Obviously, that’s not trending in the right direction.
Additionally, Lincecum hasn’t thrown a pitch in a Major League game in nearly a year. He last pitched for the San Francisco Giants on June 27, 2015.
More recently, Lincecum did have a showcase in front of Major League clubs, where his fastball got into the low-90’s. That’s not as fast as it was during his Cy Young seasons of 2008 and 2009, but better than it’s been over the past few years.
The deal is for a Major League contract, so the Angels and their fans will be seeing Lincecum with the big club in Anaheim. How soon he’ll likely join remains to be seen. Until then, he’ll be honing his craft in the minors.