SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Tim Lincecum was already company property the first time he saw the San Francisco Giants play in person. Shortly after agreeing to a $2.025 million bonus as the 10th pick in the 2006 draft, Lincecum flew to California from Washington to watch a game and meet the players who would eventually become his teammates.

Barry Bonds was still dominating the premises with his outsized ego, his entourage, his black leather clubhouse chair and his pursuit of Hank Aaron's career home run record, but Lincecum noticed something else when he walked through the AT&T Park home clubhouse doors. His gaze fell on rookie right-hander Matt Cain, who was stretching and preparing to go out to face the Philadelphia Phillies.

First impressions can last a lifetime. Even after winning two Cy Young Awards and three strikeout titles and having Randy Johnson advise his virtual twin to "put a towel on" in a classic video game commercial, Lincecum still views Cain as an inspiration because of his superior service time. That's true even though Lincecum turns 28 in June, and Cain won't celebrate his 28th birthday until October.

"I kind of looked up to him from the beginning," Lincecum says. "I thought, 'This guy is younger than me and we're actually peers.' But he was already here, and that was my dream."

Over the past four seasons, Lincecum and Cain have defined competitive baseball in San Francisco and helped bring the franchise its first World Series title since 1954. They go together like Krukow and Kuiper, garlic and fries, and splashdowns in the McCovey Cove. Giants fans love them, opponents dread facing them, and they almost always seem to rise to the occasion.

Which leads us to the organizational question du jour: Can the Giants afford to keep them?

"A fluid situation"

It's an expensive proposition maintaining continuity in an elite rotation. In January the Giants spent $40.5 million on a two-year extension for Lincecum, but it will only take him through the final two years of salary arbitration and make him a free agent following the 2013 season. Meanwhile, the team has been discussing an extension with Cain, who will join Cole Hamels as the hot free-agent pitching commodity of the upcoming winter, assuming neither signs a deal before then.