The San Francisco Giants are full of great young pitching, which is all well and good. It’s one of the best situations you can be in, until it’s time to pay them. They just recently doled out a huge contract to Matt Cain, and now it’s Madison Bumgarner’s turn.

According to SFX, they extended Bumgarner with a five-year, $35 million contract.

“Congratulations to Madison Bumgarner on his 5-year $35 million extension with the Giants!,” SFX tweets.

This is the biggest contract ever given to someone with just one-plus year of service. And it will get bumped to $40 million if he qualifies for Super Two status. This new extension also has options for 2018 and 2019 and even gives him a limited no-trade clause. He can name eight teams annually that he can’t be traded to.

The 22-year old had a 3.21 ERA last season and looks to be a stud in the making.

The sports world is stunned today as they have learned that Pat Burrell plans to retire. The 35-year old has had foot problems that will just make it too painful to continue.

He told the AP back in November that it’s too problematic to keep playing, even though he wasn’t sure of his decision at the time.

“I have not decided yet, but I don’t think I can play anymore [due to a chronic foot injury]. It hurts me to say that,” he said.

He will retire with the fourth most home runs in Philadelphia Phillies history with 251. He’s behind Del Ennis, Ryan Howard and Mike Schmidt.

The first-overall pick in the 1998 draft, Burrell will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2016.

According to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, the Colorado Rockies are out there actively trying to improve their team (as they should be for god’s sake). He says that while they did make an offer to Michael Cuddyer, they are also going pretty hard after Carlos Beltran.

“#rockies are making a push for carlos beltran. they also made an offer to cuddyer. want 1 or the other,” Heyman tweets.

Every time I watch Beltran, I see someone who is ailing, old, slow and broken down. But, you look at his numbers and you see that he can still do it. In 44 games last year with the San Francisco Giants, he hit .323 with seven bombs. That’s not bad at all.

And then, throw in the thin air and Beltran could have a huge year with the Rockies. That is, if they get him.

Perhaps the biggest offseason priority for the San Francisco Giants (besides finding out a way to rid themselves of Barry Zito’s awful pitching and huge contract) was to improve their lineup. Their pitching has always been stellar, but they have about two guys in the lineup that can hit a curve ball and one was hurt.

So, the Giants seem to have done just that. They sent Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Melky Cabrera.

Sure, Melky isn’t going to be a great defensive player in that huge outfield, but he hit .305 last year with 18 home runs and the Giants could sure as hell use that. He also stole 20 bases last season, so that should help too.

Sanchez was phenomenal in 2010 when the Giants won the World Series with a 3.07 ERA that year. He dropped to 4.26 with a 4-7 record this past year, but should still be a boost to that Royals staff.

It wasn’t long ago that the San Francisco Giants had the lead in the NL West and were widely considered to be the biggest problem for the Philadelphia Phillies in the post season. They always seemed to get the timely hits against them, the Phils couldn’t hit their pitching, and they proved last year that they can take them out in a seven-game series.

Now, it doesn’t look like the Giants will be a threat to anyone in the postseason, and they are now cutting dead weight.

With six games between them and the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks, GM Brian Sabean is willing to admit some roster mistakes. He’s designated Miguel Tejada and Aaron Rowand for assignment.

Tejada was on a one-year, $6.5 million deal. He recently had a problem when he was asked to bunt, and the Giants could just be sick of his act. You hit .239 with four home runs this season? Yeah, you’ll bunt and like it.

Rowand was a much bigger mistake. He got a six-year, $50 million contract a few years ago and barely made the postseason roster last year. That’s pretty bad.

So, one would have to wonder what’s going through Barry Zito’s head right now. He is currently on one of the worst free-agent contracts in sports history and has an ERA of 5.62. He signed a seven-year, $126 million deal before the 2007 season. Ouch. Don’t go too far away from your phone.

For those of you who are sick of San Francisco Giants’ closer Brian Wilson’s comedy act with the beard and all, you’ll be getting a bit of a break. The Giants have placed him on the 15-day DL, retroactive to August 16th. He has some elbow inflammation and the Giants haven’t indicated how long he’ll be out.

In the meantime, the team will most likely go with a closer-by-committee role. Jeremy Affeldt would probably be the first to get the nod, with Sergio Romo getting into the mix when he comes off of the DL.

Photo Caption: Before the ass-clown beard act.

This is a huge setback for the Giants. Their game is predicated on out-pitching you. They don’t have much offense to speak of and they rely on Wilson to come in and put the clamps down on one- and two-run ball games.

They are currently 2.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks and struggling on their current road trip.

In case you missed this on Friday night, it’s worth watching. The Philadelphia Phillies had a commanding lead on the San Francisco Giants in the sixth inning. Jimmy Rollins singled home two more runs to give the Phils an 8-2 lead.

After that, Rollins swiped second base and that apparently didn’t go over so well with the Giants. So, Ramon Ramirez popped Shane Victorino in the back and, surprise surprise, Victorino didn’t care for it. He took a step towards the mound and that was enough for catcher Eli Whiteside to step in front of him. And then chaos ensued.

Whiteside got in front of Victorino and tried to tackle Placido Polanco, who was coming in to investigate (or fight). It wasn’t that he tried to keep Polanco from getting involved, it was that he got on his knees and tried to WWF tackle him.

So then the benches cleared and when all was said and done, Ramirez, Whiteside and Victorino were ejected from the game.

“Yeah, absolutely, I think he did,” Victorino said of him intentionally getting hit. “That’s why I took a step forward. I had no intentions of going out there and charging the mound. I just wanted to go out there and get an answer. … Obviously, Eli felt like, from looking at his reaction, I was going to go. He started jumping around. Polanco came in and he tackled Polanco. Everything escalated from there.”

By now you’ve surely heard about San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey getting absolutely steamrolled at home plate by Florida Marlin Scott Cousins. It was a brutal collision and led to a busted leg for Posey. He has a cracked fibula and torn ligaments in his ankle.

While many think that he could be out 6-8 weeks and return later in the year, even Posey is now thinking that that’s not looking too good.

“I think it’s going to be a long road to recovery, but it’s something I believe I will be able to fully recover from,” Posey said.

He was asked if he still wants to catch when he returns to the field.

“Yes,” he said, “100 percent, no question.”

The more he talked, the more it sounded like he knows his season is over.

“I think we’ll know more once we do some surgery,” Posey said. “I think it’s highly likely I probably won’t be back this year, from what I’m hearing.”

Despite that, he’s still glad that the injury wasn’t much worse.

“I feel fortunate that I’ve just got a torn-up leg,” he said. “As a catcher, you’re left in a very exposed position. You’re trying to catch the ball and the guy is bearing down on you as hard as he can. I feel fortunate not to come away with a neck injury or a spinal injury.”

Check out the hit here:

Barry Zito has finally done something that the San Francisco Giants are happy about. Specifically, he has landed on the disable list with a mid-foot sprain. Amazingly, it’s his first trip to the DL in 12 years.

The Giants were probably hoping he’d spend more time there. The left-hander probably is the worst free agent signing in the history of professional sports. Remember the team was rumored during spring training to be considering cutting the guy they gave a seven-year, $126 million contract to. At the time it was the most money ever given to a pitcher.

Photo Caption: Zito guesses that of all the things that scare him the most, creatures with angry claws are probably the most worrisome.

Zito is 0-1 so far this season with a 6.23 ERA. He’s walked eight and struck out just six. This guy is just not very good anymore.

At least with him on the disabled list, the Giants coaches, staff, front office officials, players, stadium workers and fans won’t have to watch him pitch.

The San Francisco Giants made one of the biggest mistakes in the history of free agency in sports back in 2006 when they signed Barry Zito. The deal was for seven years and $126 million. He’s earned about $6.35 of that contract.

Zito has been awful and his spring training debut was no different. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, he “walked the ballpark.”

And now, a source tells the same writer that there is “exasperation” from the organization with how truly terrible he is. They also said that his status as the No. 5 starter is “definitely not safe.”

Photo Caption: Zito prepares to take a huge dump on the mound.

Seven years, $126 million. And his job as the last damn guy in the rotation isn’t safe. Let that sink in for a minute.

The source tells the paper that the team will consider buying out the remaining $57.5 million that he’s owed through 2013 if that’s what it takes to get rid of the dude. Wow.

We have a tough time believing that the Giants will eat all of that money when Zito has shown rare flashes of being able to play baseball. It’s an ass-ton of cash to just urinate away and we’ll believe this one when we see it.

Uh ohhh. Someone has some ‘splainin’ to do. A source tells the New York Daily News that federal agents intercepted a shipment of 50 pre-loaded HGH syringes that were sent to the wife of San Francisco Giants outfielder Jose Guillen back in September.

I guess this isn’t all that shocking as Guillen has a history of getting a hold of banned substances. Back in 2008, Guillen was set to be suspended for 15 games for purchasing HGH, testosterone and other steroids through the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center from 2002-2005.

Christ.

The sources said that the DEA contacted MLB’s Department of Investigation about all this to see if other players were involved. Phew! Good thing that Steroids Era is finally over!

Once Guillen’s wife Yamel signed for the package that came to them in San Francisco, the DEA agents identified themselves and she allowed them to search their home. In recent weeks it’s believed that Yamel left the country for the Dominican Republic. Probably a good move.

Regardless, Guillen and his wife will now be involved in a legal mess. You thought no one wanted Guillen on their team before?

It may be small consolation to San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, but it’s still a decent award. After not collecting a single OTR award this season, Posey’s frustrations were mitigated a bit when he won a World Series title and now he’s been named National League Rookie of the Year.

One of the few Giants that can hit a baseball, Posey sported a batting line of .305/.357/.505, to go with 18 home runs and 67 RBI in 108 games this year.

Photo Caption: Posey never forgets his days in the Black Panther Party.

The 23-year old received 20 first-place votes, just 11 more than Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves.

Look for Posey to come to spring training fat and out of shape after making the rounds on the bankquet circuit this offseason.

Remember when Pablo Sandoval was good? We don’t really either. It’s been a while. Not only did he have a lousy season for the World Series champion San Francisco Giants, but his lack of discipline could cost him a roster spot next year.

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that GM Brian Sabean is considering starting him off next year in the Minor leagues if he doesn’t stop with the fat nonsense.

“Sabean: Panda starts next year in minors if he doesnt get his act together,” Schulman tweets.

Kung Fu Panda has had problems in the past with staying on a diet and keeping his weight down. His .268 average and 13 home runs this year just aren’t cutting it, and a lot of it probably has to do with the fact that he’s a fat mess. And clearly, the Giants are tired of it.

After the San Francisco Giants finished off the Philadelphia Phillies Saturday night in Game 6 to advance to their first World Series since the little earthquake incident, the big question was about Tim Lincecum. He faced three batters in a relief appearance and many wondered about his availability as a starter for the final round.

“I fully expect to make the start,” Lincecum said. “It’s not like they told me to get ready for Game 1. They just said, ‘Get ready for your next start.’ So I think that’s what they’re talking about, yeah.”

We’re sure it’s something he can worry about in a day or so. As for Saturday night, he probably just was looking forward to a big, huge bowl filled with Homboldt County’s finest.

“This is unbelievable,” Lincecum said. “It’s pretty surreal. You dream about these things when you’re a kid. You even dream about them when you’re a Major League Baseball player. These things are finally coming to fruition, coming together. When all the pieces come together at once it’s a pretty awesome sight to see, especially with this group of players.”

The good news for the Philadelphia Phillies is that they found a way to come back from a one-run deficit against Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants to win Game 5 and send the NLCS back to Philadelphia for a pivotal Game 6 in Philly. The bad news is that their ace Roy Halladay tweaked his groin in the second inning and wasn’t himself the whole night.

“I felt like it was something I could get by with,” Halladay said.

Halladay rode the stationary bike in between innings to try to keep it loose, but he clearly didn’t have his A game all night.

“He wasn’t going to let us take him out,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

It probably means that he’s not available for relief duties should they reach a Game 7. But, the more immediate worry last night was him staying healthy enough to get through the game. After all, the Phils were facing elimination. They ain’t got time for groin injuries.

“I was worried a little bit,” Ruiz said. “But when I saw him come back to the mound [in the third inning], I had a great feeling.”

Probably Doc’s biggest problem was getting ahead in counts all night. He got behind a few times and wasn’t able to throw a lot of pitches that he may have wanted to. Still, Halladay at 85% is still better than most of the league.

Now, the big question is how Roy Oswalt pitches in Game 6 after pitching an inning in Game 4′s loss on Wednesday night.

The Phillies looked absolutely lifeless on offense on Tuesday as they dropped Game 3 of the NLCS 3-0 to the San Francisco Giants. Yes, Matt Cain pitched well, I get that. But, c’mon. The Phils scattered a few hits here and there and never put any pressure on him.

As such, they need to admit that changes need to be made and just do it.

Raul Ibanez looks overmatched at the plate. The fact that they have to hold on to this guy for one more year is just evidence of why you don’t sign aging players to three-year deals. Remember when he got off to that hot start in 2009? That was a long time ago. Ben Francisco isn’t a great option, but he’ll improve the defense immediately and he can’t possibly do worse than going 0-for-(insert however many at-bats Ibanez got in a given game).

What about Jimmy Rollins? That’s the big debate. There are some who want him benched pronto in exchange for Wilson “Exxon” Valdez. Valdez isn’t great, but Rollins isn’t giving you much right now. He had the big three-run double in Game 2, but other than that he’s been quiet like the rest of them. The single he hit in the ninth inning of Game 3 ended up doing no harm.

The Phils are stuck with Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. There are no better alternatives on the roster and at least Howard is hitting a few balls. Utley on the other hand….brutal.

So what do the Phillies end up doing? Can they stick with this lineup for Game 4 with Joe Blanton on the mound? Will simply shuffling the lineup around with the same dead bats be enough to get a few runs?

Should Dom Brown get a chance to play?

There is simply no room for bitching about last night’s Phillies/Giants NLCS Game 1 matchup. The San Fransisco Giants found a way to get a win against Doc Halladay and the Philadelphia Phillies. They won 4-3 and there was no area where you can say “so and so ruined the game for us.”

The home plate umpire was rough. He squeezed the ever-loving crap out of both sides. He was fair and consistent, and that’s all you can ask of an umpire. Both Halladay and Tim Lincecum were frustrated by many of his calls, but it was the same for everyone.

But what’s with Cody Ross? An unremarkable player to say the least, Ross popped two solo shots off of Doc Halladay to keep the pressure on the Phillies. Halladay wasn’t bad, but the four runs he gave up were just enough to kick the Phils in the testicles and go down 1-0 in the series.

Here’s something cute…what’s Cody Ross spelled backwards?

Ssory Doc.

If you haven’t been paying attention – and judging by the out-of-town television ratings, you haven’t – this NLDS series between the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants has been pretty darn good. Sunday was no different, as the Giants scored a pair in the ninth to take Game 3.

The Braves have had their share of mistakes, namely by Brooks Conrad, who had three errors in Game 3. Ouch. But it’s not just him. Where has Jason Heyward been? He’s been awful this post season, going 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts.

As such, the Braves are dropping him to sixth in their lineup for Game 4. This is the lowest he’s batted since June, according to MLB.com‘s Mark Bowman.

“This is the first time Heyward has hit below the fourth spot since 6/26 — the last game he played before going on the DL,” Bowman tweets.

After scoring just two runs on Sunday, the Braves’ lineup definitely needs a kick in the pants.

The San Francisco Giants have some filthy pitching, but they don’t really have the hitting to match. Their lineup is mediocre at best and they can’t afford to be losing the few players that can actually hit.

Rookie catcher Buster Posey would fall into that category. So, when he collided with Kung Fu Panda last night and grabbed his ribs, it was a bad moment for Giants fans (almost as bad as the moment when Rick Ankiel decided to go yard).

Posey surely has some sore ribs, but the good news is x-rays came back negative. The tests were precautionary, but still, it’s good to hear that the kid doesn’t have cracks up and down his midsection.

The Giants now head to Atlanta in a 1-1 series.

The Atlanta Braves are in the thick of an intense Wild Card race. With the NL East already wrapped up by the Philadelphia Phillies, they need to keep pace with the San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies (but not so much).

In short, they can’t afford to be taking on water. So when Martin Prado exited Monday night’s game against the Florida Marlins after making a diving catch, things got a little hairy.

“Prado’s definitely going to be out a while,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said of Prado’s injured hip.

The Braves are a team that lives on pitching. They are already without Chipper Jones and I don’t know that they can afford to lose Prado at this point. He is hitting .307 to go with 15 bombs this season.

This is definitely a blow, but they still might have enough pitching to get through an NLDS round if they make the playoffs.

Remember when Pablo Sandoval was a force in the San Francisco Giants lineup? No one else can remember back that far either, so don’t worry about it. But, yeah, he’s been brutal lately.

So brutal, in fact, that he now seems to be headed to the bench. That’s especially bad when you consider that the Giants don’t have a ton of great bats in the lineup.

Photo Caption: Coaches have pleaded with Sandoval to stop using a balsa wood bat, but he won’t listen.

“Bochy talked to Pablo Sandoval, who appears to be a bench guy now. Bochy said he’d start Renteria, if healthy, and move Uribe to 3B in COL,” tweets Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News.

The good news is that Juan Uribe kind of produced tonight in a win over the Chicago Cubs. And when we say “produced,” we mean that he hit six f’ing RBI’s in one damn inning. Yeah, you read that right.

The Giants have a big series this weekend with the Colorado Rockies. It sure would have helped if Sandoval wasn’t stinking up the joint so bad right now.

According to ESPN’s Enrique Rojas, the San Francisco Giants are close to acquiring Jose Guillen from the Kansas City Royas. Guillen was designated for assignment last week by the team and is still owed $3 million for the rest of the year.

“News: Royals and Giants close to complete Jose Guillen trade. If completed, Guillen will play friday vs Padres,” Rojas tweets.

As of now, the 34-year old Guillen is listed as a DH. But, sources tell OTR that there is no DH in the National League and that he’ll have to actually play a position if he wants to do anything other than pinch hit.

We’re thinking he’ll line up in right field if they decide to use him.

This would officially list the Royals as “sellers” this season. Many thought they would load up on talent to complete their World Series run, but it seems like Kansas City fans will be disappointed that their team, yet again, didn’t “go for it.”

UPDATE: Deal is done.

There was a pretty scary moment during the fourth inning of the Giants game tonight when outfielder Eugenio Velez was struck in the head by a foul line drive into the dugout.

Velez was standing with his teammates when Pat Burrell sliced a fastball towards the visitor’s benches causing players to scatter and knocking Velez off his feet. Team physician Ken Akizuki and other team trainers tended to his head injury for quite some time. They eventually removed Velez on a stretcher, wearing a neck brace, and he was immediately take to the hospital. The team is reporting that he is doing well (considering) but will remain overnight for observation.

UPDATE: Velez has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a head contusion and concussion.

After a Vicente Padilla fastball popped him in the face on Friday night, San Francisco Giants CF Aaron Rowand is headed to the Mark Prior List, according to Andrew Baggary (who?) on Twitter. Rowand suffered a mild concussion and fractured cheekbones and could require surgery.

“Aaron Rowand to DL. Out a minimum of 2 weeks. Might have surgery but would miss just one more week if that’s the case,” Baggary tweets.

Matt Downs will be recalled to take Rowand’s place. We don’t expect him back until sometime in May.

The San Jose Mercury News speculates that one the San Francisco Giants’ few good hitters, Freddy Sanchez, could start the season on the disabled list. Sanchez is recovering from a surgically repaired left shoulder and probably won’t pick up a bat for another week. He most likely won’t be ready for the opener, so the Giants may just opt to start him on the Mark Prior List.

“I would agree with that because I’m missing a lot of time,” said Sanchez.. “The closer we get, the harder it is to (envision) getting back by then.”

We think it would make sense just to put him on the DL and use the roster spot for someone else. Send him to Triple A to see some live pitching.

“I’d go with very doubtful,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said in regards to Sanchez’ availability for opening day. “As much as he’s moving along, that would be rushing him. We’d have concerns about that. And besides, we’re covered. We have experienced guys to help out there.”

It’s safe to say Sanchez should be removed from all fantasy baseball draft boards.

We don’t know why this took so long to get done. For the love of Christ, just pay the man. He’s 25-years old and a back-to-back Cy Young Award winner….what are you waiting for him to do? Actually hit? Hit a bong? He already did that?

So yeah, the San Francisco Giants have signed stud pitcher Tim Lincecum to a two-year deal worth a reported $23 million. If he doesn’t smoke it all, he can invest it wisely and be set for quite a while.

We’ve discussed his merits before and if you really want to know all his stats, just go to ESPN.com or something like that. Just know this, his ERA is really low and he makes tons of guys look stupid at the plate. There’s some stats for you.

We admit, we don’t understand this one. San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum is a back-to-back Cy Young Award winner and only 25-years old. We really think he low-balled himself when he asked for $13 million in arbitration, while we think the Giants really low-balled him when they offered $8 million. Based on what stud ace pitchers get paid these days, how can the Giants not be willing to throw him $13 million or even $10 million? But the bottom line is that they haven’t figured this out and it looks like it’s headed for an arbitration hearing.

Lincecum’s agent Rick Thurman says there has been very little discussion between the two sides, which makes…absolutely no sense. Apparently, talks for a one-year deal have been non-existent and there has been “some very insignificant two-year conversations,” which makes him think that “it’s quite clear the case is headed to a hearing. I think that’s the direction (a hearing) they’ve wanted this to go from Day 1 simply because there’s been little or no discussions with regards to a contract.”

Player arbitration in MLB can get very ugly. One side tells everyone why he’s so good and why he deserves X amount of month. Then the team says “this is why you aren’t worth that.” Not a good situation. Well, what are the Giants going to say about Lincecum to get his figure down? He gets hurt too much? Hasn’t proven he can pitch consistently at this level? What would it be? They don’t like his hair? Nobody does? Not even his mom?

San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum has filed for $13 million in arbitration, according to SI.com’s Jon Heyman. The Giants submitted a paltry, are-you-actually-serious $8 million on their end. We understand that arbitration is a negotiation process, but are you kidding? $8 million for a kid coming off back-to-back Cy Young Awards?

Some speculated that Lincecum could fetch near $20 million and he’d be worth it. We think $13 million would be a great price for the Giants to spend on this stud. Regardless it looks like Lincecum will break Ryan Howard’s $10 million first-year arbitration record.

We can’t imagine the Giants putting up too much of a fight here. Pay the man and move on.

According to Rick Thurman, the agent for San Francisco Giants superstud Tim Lincecum, the two-time Cy Young Award winner will seek a one-year deal in his first arbitration eligible offseason. He surely will break Ryan Howard’s record ($10 million) for first-year arbitration-eligible players.

“As of today, we’ll pursue a one-year deal,” Thurman said.

Lincecum wants to take full advantage of the arbitration system, and that’s fine. But he is taking a risk should he suffer some sort of serious arm injury. But based on what they say about his non-traditional delivery, that will never happen.

Photo Caption: Soon he’ll be able to afford the good weed.

San Francisco Giants pothead pitcher Tim Lincecum earned his second straight NL Cy Young Award with a 15-7 record and 2.48 ERA.

He won the award with just 11 first-place votes and became the first pitcher to win the award without the most first-place votes since Tom Glavine in 1998. Adam Wainwright from the St. Louis Cardinals had 12 first-place votes.

Many didn’t think he’d win it because of his modest 15 wins, but we think wins are a stupid stat for a pitcher. Unless you are up around 18 or so, it’s not a good indicator of how well you pitched. Hell, you can blow a save and still get a win.