Barry Zito

Interesting article, but he probably has to throw his fastball up in the zone a lot to get them to swing at the curve which has to start up in the zone. Otherwise they'd just lay off anything up in the zone and he'd seldom get any swings on the curve.

The article really bothered me; the foundation of the article is that he has not performed at a level the is commencerate with his pay. The fact that Zito signed a contract based upon prior performance the author feels is reason to be harsh towards him as a player.

Performance aside, Zito has been nothing but a gentleman. He is prepared, does his job, supports his teammates, does not complain and contributes to his community. For those that read this forum; I think most of us would be proud to have someone like him our team.

However, the fact that he had the good fortune to sign a contract which very few will every see makes him the target for the author, which bothers me to no end.

ILVBB.

Somehow I must have missed all the articles this author wrote while Zito was with the A's about how unfair it is for a Cy Young winner not to be getting paid.

quote:

Originally posted by Swampboy:
Somehow I must have missed all the articles this author wrote while Zito was with the A's about how unfair it is for a Cy Young winner not to be getting paid.

That is funny.

Not convinced the writer, Henson, was that objective.

Until the last month, Zito was masterful throughout the year.

And as noted, Zito signed a seven-year, $126 million contract prior to the 2007 season.

It was a tradeoff whether another a LHP (in relief)
was going to be added to Oct roster.

Zito will be ready again in spring 2011.

When Zito was a free agent, as a Yankee fan, I wanted no part of him. I'm glad Yankees had no interest in him. I saw him as nothing more than a junkballer who if not perfect, would get hammered. He is a collosal bust and along with his baseball uniform, he also wears a ski mask as he heists the loot from the Giants. As a Giants fan, that's the way I'd take it although you can't blame Zito for looting the Giants. They handed him the loot.

He's not heisting loot from anyone.

Barry Zito didn't create the pay system under which high performing young players get grossly underpaid until they become eligible for arbitration and then only a few players have long enough careers to cash in on free agency and possibly get overpaid. This system is the result of agreements between owners and a union that permit most players to be underpaid and a small minority to be overpaid. The average MLB career is less than 6 years, which means the average major leaguer never truly gets a market based salary.

When the occasional high dollar free agent "bust" comes along and his performance drop doesn't appear to be associated with misconduct or bad attitude or lack of effort, I can't blame him for winning at a game he didn't invent.

I say good for him.

quote:

Originally posted by Swampboy:
He's not heisting loot from anyone.

Barry Zito didn't create the pay system under which high performing young players get grossly underpaid until they become eligible for arbitration and then only a few players have long enough careers to cash in on free agency and possibly get overpaid. This system is the result of agreements between owners and a union that permit most players to be underpaid and a small minority to be overpaid. The average MLB career is less than 6 years, which means the average major leaguer never truly gets a market based salary.

I say good for him.

quote:

Originally posted by ILVBB:
Performance aside, Zito has been nothing but a gentleman. He is prepared, does his job, supports his teammates, does not complain and contributes to his community. For those that read this forum; I think most of us would be proud to have someone like him our team.

Well said.

Observations. The big money does indeed change the approaches of many players. There are many players out there in all sports who are not paid in line with their current performance.

But those of us who have the opportunity to watch Zito closely and follow his story...have great respect for him...it would appear that so do his teamates. From all I can see the $ has had little effect on his approach. You can only control three things attitude, effort and preparation. Zito does all three and remains the professionals professional. He works hard, he seeks solutions relentlessly, he continues to adapt and adjust, he is a true team guy, he cares about his teams, his employers and his teamates success, he remains humble - fully acknowledges his failures yet does not give into them. I have to believe that he remains a very positive influence in the dugout. If the Giants continue to succeeed you will hear little complaint from the franchise.

Frankly as much as I want the Giants to win, I want some of my ticket $ to go to a "winner" like Zito. You will win some you should lose...you will lose some you should win...There will be good times and bad. All you can truly control is preparation, attitude and effort. Those are the tools that you use to influence statistical and performance success.

This story is not over.

44
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As a fan, I wouldn't be interested on how Zito gets along with his teammates or how a good guy he is. 18.5M and can't even make a playoff roster is pretty pathetic. At least he don't pitch for the Yankees. We had a bandit named Carl Pavano and the fans couldn't wait until he took his act elsewhere. When you pay these guys big bucks, they better deliver. These contracts affect my cost of going to a game and my cable bill. I could give a ratz azz how he gets along in the dugout.

The 1977-78 Yankees wanted to kill each other. It was the Bronx Zoo. But they won. That's all that matters when following a pro team.

Barry Zito is worth exactly 18.5M. Because thats what he signed for. Your worth what somebody is willing to pay

quote:

Barry Zito is worth exactly 18.5M. Because thats what he signed for. Your worth what somebody is willing to pay

That's true. SF thought he was worth $18.5M

But if the press and fans get their digs at him for being nothing more than an $18.5M good guy and cheerleader because the organization doesn't trust him, then he has to understand that and deal with it although he's laughing all the way to the bank so I doubt he's too worried about it.

I feel Barry Zito is a great guy and I don't begrudge him in the least for signing the contract he was offered by the Giants front office that was negotiated by his agent. That's what happens when you are any club but the Yankees who can throw away more money than most clubs can spend, and you sign pitchers to seven year deals. Or for that matter five, six or eight years. Deals of this length for pitchers that have worked out are extremely rare and the chances that the club will end up throwing away millions on an untradeable contract makes taking the chance an economic crapshoot. There were signs in Zito's declining strikeout/walks rate increasing hits to innings pitched, and ever increasing WHIP that he was declining. He already pitched in a pitcher's park so things were likely to get worse not better. If only the Giants management had used just an ounce of restraint in trying to get a new face of the franchise, they might have taken more time to do their due diligence. Some of his failures could be masked with a better hitting club but the Giants aren't going to do that. They put way too much of the team's payroll into a player that had won as many as 16 games only once in the last four years. They paid him like he was one of baseball's elite pitchers and truthfully he was only that in his first 2 1/2 seasons. So the only people that should be begrudged by the fans or media is the person or persons who was foolish enough to make this signing in the first place. Barry will continue to be a 190 innings guy who gives the Giants much less than what an 18.5 million and up(in the next couple of seasons) in real production. To me that doesn't make him worth 18.5 million on the open market any more than if I paid 50 thousand dollars for a twenty thousand dollar truck. But then again I might actually do a little work to find out what that truck is worth now and what it will be worth in five years. Many Baseball management people never cease to amaze me. Yeah, I'm talking about you Mets, Mariners, and Royals.