Bumgarner Contract: Locking Up Young Pitchers to 5-Year Deals Is Trendy

San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Sabean has caused some head-scratching and furrowed eyebrows with some of the decisions he's made in the past. 

For instance, signing Aaron Rowand to a five-year, $60 million contract in 2007. His seeming obsession with mediocre infielders such as Juan Uribe, Edgar Renteria or Ryan Theriot is another curiosity. Then there's the awful Barry Zito deal, which almost needs no explanation. The Giants still owe $46 million over the next three years on that one. 

But one thing Sabean has proven to be brilliant at is locking up his homegrown talent, especially the team's young starting pitchers.

Two weeks ago, the Giants signed Matt Cain to a six-year, $127.5 million contract extension that is causing ripples throughout baseball and influencing negotiations for prospective free-agent pitchers Cole Hamels and Zack Greinke. 

On Monday, Sabean did it again. Except this time, he locked up one of his guys before he even made it to arbitration. The Giants signed lefty Madison Bumgarner to a five-year contract worth $35 million. As Buster Olney explained on Twitter, the contract could break two ways. 

If Bumgarner is eligible for arbitration via "Super Two" status (the top 22 percent in service time among players with two-plus years, the San Francisco Chronicle's John Shea clarifies), he'll receive $3 million in 2013, $5.5 million in 2014, $7 million in 2015, $10 million in 2016 and $12 million in 2017.

If he doesn't qualify for arbitration, Bumgarner gets $750,000 in 2013, $3.75 million in 2014, $6.75 million in 2015, $9.75 million in 2016 and $11.5 million in 2017.

Put more simply, it's a $35 million contract if Bumgarner isn't a Super Two player, which seems most likely to occur. But if he is, the deal is worth $40 million.

Either way, as Danny Knobler tweeted, it's the most given to a player with just over one year of major league service time.

The deal also includes club options for 2018 and 2019, meaning Bumgarner will likely be under club control until he's 29 years old. Just in case you forgot or weren't aware, he's only 22.

That gives him at least one more opportunity to cash in big, for anyone who thinks Bumgarner should've just let the arbitration play out year-by-year, as teammate Tim Lincecum essentially has done. 

In his first full season for the Giants last year, Bumgarner made 33 starts, threw more than 200 innings, averaged eight strikeouts per nine innings and finished with a 3.21 ERA. No wonder he was a popular National League Cy Young Award pick for this year by many baseball writers. 

But by signing Bumgarner through his first year of free agency, Sabean is keeping up with a trend that many of his fellow general managers are following. As MLB Trade Rumors' Extension Tracker lays out, several young pitchers have signed five-year deals covering their arbitration seasons in recent years. 

Here are the five best extensions in my opinion, based on the performance that pitcher had the previous season. 

Jon Lester, 2009: 16-6, 3.21 ERA, 24 years old

Derek Holland, 2012: 16-5, 3.95 ERA (3-0, 3.82 postseason), 24 years old 

Matt Moore, 2011: 1-0, 2.89 ERA (majors); 12-3, 1.92 ERA (minors), 22 years old

Gio Gonzalez, 2011: 16-12, 3.12 ERA, 25 years old

Ricky Romero, 2009: 13-9, 4.30 ERA, 24 years old

At 13-13 with a 3.21 ERA at 21 years of age, Bumgarner should probably be slotted in between Holland and Moore. Maybe even higher, given his postseason performance (2-0, 2.18) during the Giants' 2010 World Series run. 

Where would you put Bumgarner on that list? Should he be at the top, given his age? 

So is Lincecum next up in the contract-extension chow line? Even without him, the Giants have a formidable top two through 2017. But with him, the top three makes the Giants a perennial contender, just as they are now. 

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