Ever since Melky Cabrera's season started on a tear, there's been chatter about the Giants extending the All-Star Game MVP and MLB hits leader.
Melky's scheduled to become a free agent after 2012 and both he and the Giants have said they'd be open to an extension.
However, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, the two sides recently decided to suspend negotiations on a new contract until after the season.
Heyman reports that the Giants approached Melky's camp about a new deal recently, but that "it was a short conversation" since Melky is -- understandably -- enticed by the idea of hitting the open market.
Additionally, the Giants were, per Heyman, attempting to interest Melky in a deal along the lines of the three-year, $27 million that the Padres recently gave Carlos Quentin, although Heyman writes that "no official offer was made."
That type of deal, quite simply, won't get it done with Melky. He's having a monster year and is on pace for his second-straight 200-hit season. He's anchoring the Giants offense (although Buster Posey is starting to heat up now too) and he's one of the primary reasons they're still in first in the National League West.
He won't want a three-year deal and you can't blame him, especially with someone like Jayson Werth inking a seven-year, $126 million deal recently.
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And besides, as I've noted roughly 50,000 times this season, it doesn't behoove the Giants to negotiate with Melky during the season. His value is maxed out right now, he's going to want more money than they're willing to offer and it's only going to hurt later relations.
So suspending talks until after the year is a good thing, especially if the Giants can win enough to help convince Melky that he should hang around San Francisco for a few more years.
