I think you guys got a good one, he is small, but has some wild stuff.
Giants leap at Lincecum
Pitcher drops to 10th, but is highest UW draft pick ever
By DAN RALEY
P-I REPORTER
Tim Lincecum went from Huskies to Giants, but only in nickname, not physique. Had the record-breaking Washington pitcher been able to inflate his slender frame some, he might have come out of Tuesday's baseball draft a million or two richer.
As it turned out, Lincecum's name was the 10th one announced in the opening round of the annual talent grab, coming later than anticipated yet making the right-hander the highest-drafted player for the Huskies and likely securing him a $2 million bonus from San Francisco.
Scouts sizing him up this spring had marveled at his velocity and diversity of pitches, his tenaciousness on the mound. If there was a quibble, it was the fact he measured 5 feet 11 and weighed 170 pounds.
After repeatedly being told he was a top-five choice, with the Kansas City Royals even publicly identifying him among others as a possibility for the No. 1 overall pick, Lincecum slid a number of spots, likely costing him an added $2 million to $3 million. He was still pleased.
"I was kind of surprised, after hearing I could go one through five," Linececum said. "I knew anything could happen. But it's not a big deal. I'm just happy to be a first-rounder."
He was the seventh pitcher taken, with the six ahead of him each at least four inches taller and 15-20 pounds heavier.
The UW pitcher could have lasted 32 spots and dipped into the second round -- and still made school history. Until Lincecum, the Huskies had never had a first-round draftee. Relief pitcher Jeff Heaverlo previously was the highest drafted player in the program, going to the Mariners on the third pick of the 1999 supplemental draft. Outfielder Tim Linden, who transferred from the UW to Louisiana State, was the 41st player chosen in the 1998 draft, also in the supplemental phase, going to San Francisco. Shortstop Kevin Stocker was the 53rd player drafted in 1991, a second-rounder winding up with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Lincecum (12-4, 1.94) emerged as the Pac-10 player of the year, but not the highest drafted player from his league. Stanford pitcher Greg Reynolds and California pitcher Brandon Morrow went second and fifth, to the Rockies and Mariners, respectively. The 6-7 Reynolds (7-5, 3.37) was the one who seemed to move up the most on the draft ladder with the late shuffle. Morrow (7-4, 2.05) will leave the Bay Area for the Northwest, the opposite of Lincecum.
Morrow, asked what he would say to Seattle fans disappointed at the Mariners for not taking the local product, said, "I think there are some San Francisco fans in this area saying the same thing. It's kind of like we swapped areas."
In head-to-head meetings, Lincecum lost 5-0 at home to Reynolds, who threw an eight-hitter at the Huskies, and the UW ace pitched one inning of relief in a 9-3 loss to Morrow and the Bears in Berkeley.
Dick Tidrow, Giants' vice president of player personnel and a former big league pitcher, told reporters versatility was Lincecum's most endearing quality.
"We like his arm, his stuff and his athleticism," Tidrow said. "He's got a power arm with good breaking stuff. He's a fast mover who can pitch in either a starting or relief role."
Even as the 10th pick, Lincecum ranks among the state's highest-drafted players, of which there are now 24 first-round selections. Only seven have gone earlier, with Floyd Bannister, No. 1 overall to the Houston Astros in 1976, still tops.
The former Mariners left-hander and 15-year big-league veteran gives Lincecum high marks.
"It's pretty impressive for a guy his size to be so overpowering," Bannister said. "He overmatched ASU. He definitely throws hard and impressed me with how good his breaking ball was."
Mike Lentz, a former Juanita High School pitcher who was taken by the San Diego Padres as the second pick overall in the 1975 draft, watched Lincecum throughout his college career. The left-hander has two sons on the UW baseball team. He predicts nothing but big things for San Francisco's top draftee.
"He's not a 6-5, 220 guy, but I don't care," Lentz said. "Neither was Ron Guidry or Roy Oswalt or Pedro Martinez, either. They know how to get leverage and get it done. He's got that long, loosey-goosy whip. Based on his body, if he got bigger, he wouldn't be as effective.
"Guys like them come along every 10 years. He's a hell of an athlete."
Lincecum was on the ninth hole at one of the Willows Run golf courses in Redmond with relatives when his UW teammates called to tell him of his draft position. He next heard from his agent.
He hadn't played in a year, but Lincecum finished off a round of 78. |
