For those San Francisco Giants fans who love to stress out about the possibility of losing Tim Lincecum, get your pacemakers ready, because Dave Cameron at FanGraphs is proposing just that. Our own Ed Valentine over at SB Nation New York got in on the discussion as well, but I figured I'd put a Giants spin on it myself.
First off, this is all hypothetical. Second off, even in theory this is a terrible idea for the Giants.
For the sake of argument, Cameron offers the idea of the Yankees taking Lincecum and the $12 million contract of Aubrey Huff off San Francisco's hands in exchange for catcher/designated hitter Jesus Montero and infielder Eduardo Nunez in an effort to boost the Giants' offense.
If that's the best offer the Yanks can put together for Timmy you can forget it. The Giants don't need Montero because a) they don't need a DH and b) they don't need a catcher either. Getting rid of Huff would undoubtedly make a number of Giants fans' day, but what are the Yankees going to do with him? Play him at first over Mark Teixeria? Or maybe in the outfield over Nick Swisher?
Yes, Lincecum's $20 million he's expected to get in arbitration would be a big chunk of the Giants budget, which could likely get you some decent bats in return, but isn't worth the loss in revenue or talent by letting Timmy leave. This is a pitching based team, that's why they won it all in 2010.
There's no point in hindering the Giants competitive advantage in the pitching staff, and even less of a point making the Yankees better through a one-sided trade. Regardless of what dollar signs you can arrange, there would be some serious damage done if they let Timmy go to the Yankees for a deal like this.