It's not exactly a deep, unthinkable playoff run, but this sort of thing gives us all the fist-pumping warm and fuzzies inside, doesn't it?
Timmy's our boy, and now, perhaps the world is truly put on notice. This guy is on track for not only an all-star career, not only a remarkable career, but potentially a hall of fame career. Baseball's been making America great for well over 100 years, and there have only been a handful of guys who have accomplished what Timmy has-- and they sure haven't done it by age 25! Check out this list of multiple winners:
Roger Clemens (7), Randy Johnson (5), Steve Carlton (4), Greg Maddux (4), Pedro Martinez (3), Sandy Koufax (3), Tom Seaver (3), Bob Gibson (2), Tom Glavine (2), Denny McLain (2), Gaylord Perry (2), Bret Saberhagen (2), Johan Santana (2), and...
TIM EFFING LINCECUM (2)!
What an incredible, mind-blowing list that this kid is now a part of. Of this list, only Denny McLain and Bret Saberhagen are non hall of famers. Maddux, Glavine, Clemens, and Johnson are as good as in, and Johan Santana may damn get in as well someday.
So, being conservative (one of the things I do best), and saying Johan doesn't get in, and those other four beasts of the 90's do, Timmy has an 79% chance of having a hall of fame career. Complex mathematical formula: 14 multiple Cy winners (other than Timmy), 11 are in or will be in Cooperstown.
That's right. Isn't it incredible?
What else is remarkable, is that Timmy is the first pot-smoking multiple Cy winner that looks like he should be playing bass in a metal band. He's also the only multiple Cy Young winner to climb on his roof in order to get the cell service necessary to hear the news. Hilarious. Trust me, people like him so much more for this stuff. The personality, the shoulder length hair, the flip flops, his windup... his edginess may have given him the edge on this award.
What surprises me this year, is that all around filthy domination won out (rightfully) over wins. Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright had incredible years, and any other season, they coulda/shoulda won it. However, they were on a team that averaged nearly 1 run per game more, and for all intents and purposes, these two Red Birds cancelled each other out.
Interestingly enough, Wainwright got the most first place votes, but Timmy got the most pointage overall.
The side effect of Timmy's epic domination of the world is that he now has an even bigger bargaining chip at the negotiating table and in this offseason's arbitration hearing. He was already due a raise of nearly $9MM to begin with even without the second Cy. Now, his slimy agent (who knows how slimy. I just consider all agents slimewads because Scott Boras and Drew Rosenhaus ruined it for their kind) will be able to say the following:
"Tim is disgusting filth, and there is only one guy in this league with two Cy Youngs right now. His name is Johan and he made $20 million dollars in 2009."
Sooooooo Giants fans, you see why recklessly overspending for Jason Bay or Matt Holliday may be a problem. Timmy is due raises through arbitration in 2010 and 2011. Then... he is a dreaded unrestricted free agent. What the Giants need to do-- and you should be praying that they do this at least once a week in your spare time-- is offer this guy a market-level longterm contract before his arb years are up. He's already going to be setting arbitration records and making $10 plus.
Although Timmy's agent has indicated that they are just going to play out the arbitration years on a year-to-year basis, it certainly would behoove the Gyros to at least offer Timmy a contract now that extends a year or two beyond the arb years. It's tough to turn down for a player because of the security, but at the same time, this is the guy we call The Freak.
Anyway, congrats to Lincey, and I hope you all are ready for a responsible, well-intentioned offseason expenditure period, haha.
PS: The Blue Bastards signed Rafael Furcal this past offseason to a deal that averages $10MM per for 3 seasons. We've all had our moments of hatred for Edgar Renteria's lack of production and his 2 yr./$16MM contract, but for the money, the Dodgers got screwed:
Furcal: .269, 92R, 47 RBI, 12 SB, .335 OBP
Renteria: .250, 50R, 48 RBI, 7 SB, .307 OBP
Obviously Furcal is the better player, but not by thaaaaat much. The difference is, we're out from Edgar's $8MM after next year, and the Dodgers have another year, plus a 4th year that vests with 600 plate appearances at $12MM.
Suckers!
