Giants ace Tim Lincecum asked for $21.5 million in salary arbitration Tuesday and was offered $17 million by the club.
via espn.go.com
Whoa! I'm a big Tim Lincecum fan but $21.5M is a lot of cheddar. Granted, this is just a starting point in negotiations but the salaries for elite MLB pitchers seems to be growing to unsustainable levels. If Tim gets say a two or three year deal worth $20M per year, that would make him about 15% of their expected payroll. I have a hard time thinking anyone can influence the outcome of a club that much given they only play once every five days. 15% of your payroll to play in about 30 or so games? Ouch...