This special time of year, it’s a good thing to remember what’s really important in life.
Like how there’s only 46 days until the pitchers and catchers voluntary reporting date. ;D
Happy new year to one and all! Let’s hope it’s a good one for all of us and for our favorite team.
It’s crazy-peculiar when different parts of your life meet for the first time.
John Scalzi is an award-winning SF writer, as well as one of the more famous and entertaining bloggers, but one who isn’t exactly a sports fan — at least he doesn’t blog about it much, if ever.
Thus today’s entry took me by surprise: “Kim Ng” –
Check this out: a Newsweek story on Kim Ng, with the subhead: “She knows her baseball and is in line to become the sport’s first female GM.” Right on. She and I lived in the same dormitory at the University of Chicago — at the same time, even.
Cool! Small world. :)
Most of the time, I enjoy FOX baseball analyst Kevin Kennedy’s commentary. At worst, it’s harmless, and at best, he offers insights into how the old-school game was played.
This time, however, I think he swinging at a pitch outside the zone.
His new article on FOX Sports today posits “Giants now have shot at NL West crown”.
When the Dodgers signed former Giants ace, Jason Schmidt, it appeared they had a leg up on the division with their combination of veterans and youngsters, and a very strong rotation. But the addition of Zito in San Francisco levels the playing field because he joins a rotation that includes a talented veteran, Matt Morris, and two very promising youngsters, Noah Lowry and Matt Cain.
How does adding Zito level the playing field exactly?
With Barry Bonds likely playing his final season, Schmidt gone, and Dave Roberts replacing Moises Alou, the team is already saving money and can justify the Zito signing. Assuming he continues to pitch well and shows his usual durability, Zito will become the new face of the franchise and the Giants should have a shot at winning the division.
Still not seeing it. A case can be made for the 2008 rotation, certainly (which Ken Arneson makes well enough over at Catfish Stew today), but replacing the .301/.352/.571 Moises Alou with the .293/.360/.393 Dave Roberts does not bode well for an already anemic offense (11th in Runs in the NL, 13th in OPS).
Sure, pitching is important. Some might say it’s more important. But given that the Dodgers, Padres, and (potentially) the Diamondbacks have all improved their rotations, while the Giants have replaced one ace with a pseudo-ace… barring catastrophic injuries, I just don’t see it.
Inevitably, the New York rags began their critiques this morning of Mets GM Omar Minaya’s failure at grabbing Barry Zito. Pitcher names are randomly sprinkled across all of these columns, but they all mention Dodger Brad Penny.
Newsday has two articles on the topic, both of which are trying to out-do each other for most tortuously artificial headline.
“SF rolls 7; Mets say: No dice” by Anthony Rieber.
Minaya will explore trade possibilities, and pitchers such as Brad Penny of the Dodgers, Joe Blanton and Rich Harden of the A’s and Javier Vazquez and Jon Garland of the White Sox might be available. So far, the price has been too steep, and the Mets might not want to part with Pelfrey, Humber or outfielder Lastings Milledge for any pitcher they’re not in love with.
“No joy in Metville; Omar has struck out” by Ken Davidoff
As for trade options, to get a Brad Penny, Jon Garland or Dan Haren, the Mets would have to take away from the very stash of young pitchers to which they now point as an asset. And it’s not certain the price will drop.
Dan Granziano over at the Star-Ledger has the relatively modestly punned “Minaya needs to find ace in empty deck” headline and a small mention of Penny on the second page.
The Old Gray Lady, concealing her story behind a useless registration system, has the straightforward “After Again Not Landing Pitcher, Mets May Test the Trade Market” from Ben Shpigel (who seems to missing a vowel):
Minaya repeated yesterday that he would be fine beginning the season with the rotation as currently constituted. But to keep up with teams like the Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Minaya figures to redouble his efforts at trading for an impact pitcher.
Of pitchers who fit that bill, the Dodgers’ Brad Penny may be available, but he has had injury problems. The San Diego Padres are not inclined to trade Jake Peavy. If the Florida Marlins’ Dontrelle Willis is made available, it would be a safe bet that Minaya would pursue him.
“I don’t believe championships are put together and won in December,” Minaya said as he geared up for more work on the phones.
They can be lost any month, however.
The Daily News has the lame “Pursuing Zito, Mets net zero”.
The Post subtly screams “GIANTS LAND ZITO / CAN’T RIP METS FOR SAYING NO TO BARRY”.
That rounds out the Penny mentions, but neither sounds particularly sold on the idea.
I’ve got to guess that unless the Mets have a tradable 3B or corner outfielder power bat stashed in a freezer somewhere, it ain’t gonna happen.
If I weren’t laughing so hard, I’d post more about this story.
Seven years? $126 million? The biggest pitcher contract in history? Maybe $144 million if an option is picked up?
For Barry Zito?
By the Giants?
Heh heh.
I mean, I like the guy — seems okay, despite his agent. I dig quirky. But that much money for Zito?
Look at it this way — if both Barrys sign, the Giants will be spending a minimum of $34 million on them. The team’s 2005 and 2006 payrolls were a little over $90 million each. Assuming that number doesn’t go up significantly next year, they would be spending nearly 40% of their payroll on two players.
But hey, more power to them.
I have to wonder if Omar Minaya will be on the phone to Ned Colletti inquiring about starting pitchers.
Some of my favorite tidbits from the blogosphere about this deal:
From that standpoint, this may be a fairly smart move if you believe that Barry Bonds won’t be on the team in 2-3 years (true), and the rest of the team won’t be all that expensive. Trouble is, Zito isn’t the pitching equivalent of Bonds, though he’s getting a payday as if he were.
Hasn’t the National League West teams seen, first hand, the consequences of a long term contract for a starting pitcher, i.e. Hampton and Kevin Brown? Were they not paying attention?
Because it looks like Barry Zito isn’t headed to New York to play for the Mets, but will stay in the Bay Area and hurl for the Giants. Ironic, since the composition of the roster had generally made their fans want to do the same.
$18 million per year for Zito is pretty pricey and going 7 years on a pitcher is utterly ridiculous to me. Has no team learned from the Kevin Brown, Mike Hampton etc deals yet?
Is This the Onion???
I swear I thought that I had clicked the wrong link. The Giants took another step towards insuring that they won’t be the dominate team in the NL West any time in the next decade.[...] Thank goodness that the Dodgers had already acquired Schmidt. It’s nice to know that the Dodgers are no longer shopping for a starter because the market for Jeff Weaver just went through the roof.
Sons of Steve Garvey (Steve Sax Comment)
With 57K votes, 87% of ESPN Sportsnation belives the Giants overpaid. Whoo-hoo!
The ONLY thing this deal does is make the Giants look ridiculous. Granted, Zito’s ERA will get a boost from the National League and the Giants’ home ballpark. And this one isn’t as dumb as the Mike Hampton deal with the Rockies. But based on the facts at hand, this looks to me like one of the dumber free-agent signings ever. Zito just isn’t very good. And if he’s worth $18 million per season, Santana’s worth $25 million.
Not to leave out the Giants blogs, here’s a sample from McCovey Chronicles:
Seven years. Insane. While a list of comparable pitchers from Baseballs Reference and Prospectus isn’t perfect, you have to be worried that there aren’t too many pitchers on the lists who were still effective at 35. Or 34. Or, you know, 33, 32, and 31. That isn’t going to be some quirk particular to just Zito’s comps; that’s going to be true of any pitcher. Seven years to any pitcher – Johan Santana, right now, for example – is insane.
I mean, that’s Antwan Jamison money. Insane.
And check these additional contract details out, via Rotoworld:
Barry Zito will get a full no-trade clause under the terms of his seven-year, $126 million contract with the Giants. The option for an eighth year at $18 million kicks in if Zito throws 200 innings in 2013, 400 innings in 2012-13 or 600 innings in 2011-13. There’s a $7 million buyout for the option, so Zito is due a paltry $137 million if it’s picked up.
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