SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Just when it might have seemed that things were quieting with the Matt Cain contract negotiations, Giants president and chief executive officer Larry Baer participated in an online video event Thursday, taking questions from fans and stirring up talk about the club's progress in extending the contract of the marquee starter.

"We're both working very hard," Baer said. "Our desire is for him to remain a Giant. There's nothing we've seen from him that shows his desire is not to be. We just keep plugging along."

Cain has reached 200 innings in each of his last five seasons and pitched 190 2/3 as a rookie in 2006, and he pitched 21 1/3 innings over three starts in the 2010 postseason without yielding an earned run. He'll follow Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner in the Giants rotation, followed by Barry Zito and Ryan Vogelsong, giving the Giants alternating lefties and righties all the way through.