Hindsight is a funny thing, especially when it seems like you're one of the few people that know better.
For example, as a child of the '80s, I vaguely remember enough from that time to know that it's not really worth repeating.
Yet, here we are, 20 years later, reinventing the wheel as it were—for a brief time, Members Only jackets made an ill-fated comeback. People also started going back to wearing matching Adidas track outfits (Run DMC), and if you're observant, you'll notice a decided increase in '80s-themed parties.
It's tacky, but all the kids are doing it. And it's only afterwards that people say, "What the hell was I thinking?"
General managers work in similar fashion, especially in baseball. Of course, they say they want to win, but in reality, they also want to look like geniuses. Why settle for being the kid with the Rubik's cube when you can have a De Lorean?
Apparently this was Giants' GM Brian Sabean's philosophy, as he threw caution (and history) into the wind and signed Barry Zito to the richest contract ever for a pitcher.
A former Cy Young winner with the A's, Zito could possible be a 20-game loser this season. All of the guitar playing in the world can't help you escape that.
- B/R Ticket Guide
But while his guitar gently weeps, Zito also has brought out a similar response from the front office and fans.
There are those who can breathe a bit easier. A few happy campers by the names of Darren Dreifort, Chan Ho Park, and Mark Hampton can all relax, as Zito is currently on course to be a bigger bust than any of the three.
So what happened, exactly?
Well, truth be told, Zito's numbers had been fading prior to the Giants signing him.
Despite making it to the All-Star Game in his final year with the A's, Zito's numbers were hardly money, as Ricky Slade would put it. Zito came just one walk shy of 100 walks on the year and had a WHIP of 1.40, two-tenths higher than what it was just the year before.
Despite that, Zito had pitched well over 200 innings each season in Oakland, but the walk numbers were constantly on the rise.
Fast-forward to this year, and the $126-million ace has this to show:
3-12 W-L, 5.99 ERA, 1.84 WHIP, .311 BAA, and a K/BB ratio under one! Yikes!
It's well established that Zito's bread-and-butter pitch is a borderline-cartoonish curveball that swoops through the strike zone (and even if it misses, you can't really tell). But once you get to his other pitches, his stuff is average at best.
With his control shakier than ever, his curveball rarely crosses the plate, and if it does, it's a bit flatter than it has been in previous years. That forces him to rely on a batting-practice fastball that seems to be even slower this year than last, a gimpy slider, and a passable changeup.
With hitters seemingly locked in to both his fastball and changeup (thanks in large part to his arm action tipping off the hitters), Zito's been in trouble virtually his whole Giants career. Unless Zito turns it around, he'll be on track to be the first 20-game loser since former Detroit Tiger Mike Maroth did it in 2003.
Just for the sake of comparison, Maroth earned $309,000 that year.
It's too bad the San Francisco Giants can't get a refund. On the bright side, Sabean still has his Cabbage Patch kid to play with.
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6 months ago
great breakdown... zito really has been a joke and makes me feel bad about the Yankees investments in pitchers that have failed.
6 months ago
this is a really well written article. but consider calling it the $126 million washed up chump. i personaly am still in disbeleif that a pitcher's career could go in the hole as fast as his has. maybe he should leave baseball while he still has some dignity
6 months ago
Zito's fastball is nowhere near where it was a few years ago. He's throwing it in the low-mid 80's, not the upper 80's-low 90's that he was at in his heyday. Hitters have learned to lay off his curveball, which effectively turns him into a fastball/changeup pitcher, with neither of those pitches being good.
From 2003 onward, Mark Buehrle was a better starter than Barry Zito. Yeah, Buehrle didn't have a Cy Young to his name, but Zito won that in 2002.
Zito got 7 years, $126 million. Buehrle got 4 years, $56 million. Oh, the irony.
6 months ago
Great article. One thing I know is that without Zito, most of my jokes would be horrible.
6 months ago
Hes just havin a bad season, watch he will be a expsolive pitcher next year;)
its just one of those season's u don't do great on
6 months ago
It still amazes me how much moving to the National League affected this guy. After all, pitchers, in my opinion anyway, tend to have the advantage when they switch leagues, because I think it's easier for pitchers to keep an unfamiliar htter from hitting than it is to be a hitter trying to hit off of an unfamiliar pitcher. If anything, I was expecting this guy to get BETTER by going to SF, not worse.
6 months ago
Hey Zito lay off the weed, and stop thinking your going to be a movie star, YOU SUCK!
from 6 months ago
That wasn't funny...
from 6 months ago
sorry josh!
6 months ago
Nice read. It's a shame for Zito... but honestly, I think a lot of people saw it coming. The real question is going forward, what can the Giants do about that contract if they ever want to get it off the books?
6 months ago
Forget the league change, look at the pitching parks switch. Trying going from Oakland, where you have an acre of foul territory, very little wind effect, and regular distance walls (not to mention a never-ending parade of young athletic middle infielders).....
And go to pitching in AT&T Park, the abortion that Bonds built. Great park for the fans and for Bonds, horrible for Zito and other pitchers with less than spectacular stuff. There's almost no foul ground, bullpens put in down the lines because they forgot to put them in til the last minute. Then there's the wind factor, being right next to the Bay and without the circular coliseum to create a wind-shield. Not to mention the 309 porch for left-handers, and the AARP card carrying middle-infielders (36 yr old Durham and 41 yr old Vizquel.)
Granted, Zito has some problems of his own, but the park and the team were a bad fit for him, and for those reasons alone, his agent and his friends should help shoulder the blame. Put him on the Padres team, and watch his ERA fall
2 months ago
and the two cent performance. remember that guy that got traded for ten bats? that should've been zito!
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