The Giants and Barry Zito agreed to a huge seven year, $126 million deal yesterday and with Zito passing the physical today, all of the i’s have been dotted and the t’s have been crossed. On the face of things, I should be happy because the Giants have a stud pitcher. For some obvious reasons though, I’m not happy.
For one thing, it never seems like the Giants have a plan. Both the Zito and Barry Bonds signing make the Giants better, but we also lost Jason Schmidt and Moises Alou. So going into 2007, Bonds will have no protection and I don’t really think Zito will be that much of an upgrade over Jason Schmidt. In fact it wouldn’t surprise me if over the next five years, Schmidt ends up having the better numbers.
So while adding Zito is definitely a positive as it stands, I don’t think it’s enough to put the Giants over the top so why spend all the money right now. Maybe Brian Sabean has a long term plan nobody else can see but based on past seasons, I’m thinking not.
