"The Giants have Ryan Vogelsong under contract, but the heaviest case in their arbitration file is yet to be resolved. They still must come to terms with Tim Lincecum.

The Giants and Lincecum's representatives have not spoken in over a month. Rick Thurman, the agent for the two-time Cy Young award winner, told me today via text message that he is "just preparing his arbitration brief" and has had no dialogue with the club since the winter meetings in early December.

That's not necessarily a bad sign. In fact, the Giants and Lincecum will make two very big statements one week from today.

That's when the two sides will exchange arbitration figures. After that, the strategy and expectations will be clear to all parties and talks should ramp up."