Zito to Giants

Switching Jason Schmidt's 2006 with Barry Zito's 2007?

I don't agree.

 

My point was let's not say he went to SF because that's where he'd be the most comfortable; he went to SF because they gave him the largest paycheck. His "comfortableness factor" is just an added bonus.

 

My point is that the comfortableness factor played a part in Zito staying in the Bay Area. Does it help that the Giants spent an obscene amount of money in an effort to land him? Of course it did.

 

Barry was going wherever the most money was. That it ended up being a place he was comfortable was just a coincidence. If the Rangers offered him more money, he would have been there, absorbing a 5.00 ERA for the next seven years.

Don't let the bohemian bullshit act fool you. He was in this for every last cent.

 

Rule No. 1 in all contract negotiations and free agent signings:

IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY!

 

While I agree with you all that the Mets did the right thing, I think we should at least recognize that it is a shift in philosophy, and an odd time to do it. Each of the last 3 seasons, the Mets got their man (Glavine, Beltran, Pedro, Wagner) by giving more years and more money than anyone else deemed wise. Is Pedro's 4th year (even back then) a better bet than Zito's 7th? While it brought them back to prominence, the Mets are really really close to winning it all, but they now have a huge black hole in their rotation. I bet we see something like Milledge & Heilman for Blanton pretty soon. If I were a Met fan, I'd probably prefer overpaying Zito, and saving your few remaining chips for whatever you'll need midseason (probably even another starter).

 

No way Blanton comes at that high a price, even as much as Milledge hurt his value last season.

 

Thought it interesting that this was the last line in the AP story:
Zito's decision to sign with the Giants first was reported on MLB.com.

From the Journal-News beat guy Peter Abraham's blog (http://www.lohud.com/blogs/lohudyankees.html).

* Over the last three seasons, Zito is 7-6 with a 4.83 ERA in games against Boston, Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Toronto. In 108 innings he has allowed 112 hits including 13 homers.

* Over the last three seasons, Zito is 3-3 with a 6.07 ERA in games at Fenway Park, Camden Yards, the Rogers Center and Tropicana Field. In 43 innings he has allowed 54 hits including six homers.

* Zito is is 55-46 with a 3.84 ERA over the last four seasons. Among pitchers with at least 500 innings in that span, he has the 41st best winning percentage and 24th best ERA. Carl Pavano is ranked higher in those categories.

 

1. If somebody's going to get a contract like this, I'm glad it's Zito, who seems like a genuinely nice guy.

2. Anyone who gives a seven-year contract to a pitcher deserves to get drummed out of baseball.

3. Anyone who gives a seven-year contract to a pitcher at $18M per deserves to get drummed out of anything requiring thought process.

 

I never once thought the Giants would pull out the 14-pounder after Tom Hicks brought out his 12-pounder.

Thank God for that, though. Zito was everything the Rangers didn't need: a fly-ball pitcher in a wind tunnel who's lost tons of velocity already.

Three words: Chan Ho Park.

 

Oakland wasn't exactly a bandbox. Still, I'm with Editude. A couple of decent years with the Giants yearning for some run support but posting decent numbers. After that, it's a fine line between a "durable" ace (as Boras would have us believe) and the dreaded "innings-eater."