will zito make a difference or not? will he ever win another cy young?
i say no to both because fact of the matter is zito's numbers have gone up not down. loses,era,whip everything. as much as he will win you 16 games he'll lose that many for you as well. he's only good for about 1 month hence why beane didn't try to resign him.
2006-12-28 06:57:47 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Baseball
I don't think he will win the Cy Young! But he will make a difference for the Giants!!!!
2006-12-28 11:15:00 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
He will not make a difference for the Giants. I doubt if he will win another Cy Young with the Giant's current aged hitters behind him.
As you pointed out, note his K/BB ratio which is a good predictor of success in pitching has been falling over the last few years:
2001 8.6
2002 7.1
2003 5.7
2004 6.9
2005 6.7
2006 6.2
Zito isn't worth it over the length of his contract. He will pitch better in the National League but he is suseptible to injury because of his high pitch counts. I think it is unlikely he makes it to the end of his contract without a severe injury.
There is benefit in signing Zito that it is an attempt to show future free agents that the Giants are trying to win after Bonds retires. If the Giants are not at least semi-competative in the next few years then they will have difficulty attracting future good players. Even this year, the Giants could not convince Pierre and Gonzalez to sign with them instead of the Dodgers. The only way they were able to sign Zito was to vastly overbid the Mets by $48 million who seemed to be the only other serious team. It will be harder and harder to attract premire players the more the Giants continue to slide farther down in the standings.
The Giants farm system is almost depleted and had only one player listed in the top 50 prospects on the official minor league site. What makes it worse is if they choose to use Lincecum as a reliever, which would lessen his impact. Unfortunately the Giants traded away Liriano, Bonzer and Nathan who along with Cain and Lowry would have made the young Giants pitching staff the best in baseball.
Also unfortunately this week for Giants fans, Baseball America ranked the Dodgers (#2), Rockies (#3) and Diamondbacks (#4)as three of the top four minor league organizations. So in the coming years, these three teams should be loaded. This did not include the Padres who did win the division last year.
If the Giants can't develop their own star players which it looks like the farm system can't, and if the Giants can't attract them as free agents as they couldn't do this year, they will be in big trouble.
Zito's signing is a drop in a bucket towards those goals.
Here is what Rob Neyer had to say about Zito on ESPN
"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."
2006-12-28 09:49:48 · answer #2 · answered by romanseight 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
There's no way in hell that Zito makes the Giants an automatic contender. The average age for the Giants is like 35. 35!! Cain and Lowry are the only above-average "young" guys on the Giants other than Zito. All of their veterans are past their prime, including Bonds. Plus, the Dodgers are stacked and the Padres have a solid club.
This signing also ties up the Giants in the future to replace all of the old players. So, in a way the Giants made a FA splash, but in the long run, it might turn out to hurt them more than anything.
As for winning the Cy Young, I don't know. Zito will be more effective in the NL, but still, he has to contend with Zambrano, Webb, Carpenter, Oswalt, Penny, and the list can go on.
2006-12-28 07:53:41 · answer #3 · answered by cubsjunkie 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The Zito contract is absolutely the worst deal of the offseason. He doesn't throw even mid-90's, doesn't have a good second pitch after his curveball, and doesn't strike out anybody. Pitchers like that don't age well. I know starting pitching is hard to find, but Zito's getting the sixth-richest contract in baseball history. You can't tell me he's worth that kind of money.
Another thing to think about - here's a lefty (meaning he'll face a lot of right-handed batters) who relies on his breaking ball and can't miss bats. That means a lot of action for the left fielder, right? And who do the Giants have in left field? The corpse of Barry Bonds. Plus, Zito doesn't throw a lot of strikes, so he won't eat up as many innings as you'd expect for that kind of money.
A third thing: Each of Oakland's Big Three (Hudson, Mulder, Zito) starters threw a lot of innings early in their careers, and this year both Hudson and Mulder broke down. Zito's thrown 200+ IP each full year in the big leagues, and he's one year younger than the first two. Is it crazy to think the same will happen to Zito?
Three things that make this deal a little less terrible: 1)He's going to the NL, 2)He's going to a pretty big park, and 3)He won't have to be the Giants' #1 starter (Matt Cain). But they're still spending way too much money for an average #2 starter.
2006-12-28 07:02:09 · answer #4 · answered by K-Dawg 2 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Zito has won 20 games once. The rest of his career has been decent to sub par. He's always been overrated and is NOT worth $18 million a year.
As for the Giants. Zito will give them more or less wins than what Schmidt did 11 to 15. Giants finish in 3rd place at best.
2006-12-28 08:16:58 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Zito was the best available fill for schmidt, because it's bad enough to lose a player like Jason, but when he goes to a division rival it's like a one two punch.
The A's can afford to keep their payroll low thanks to the ace farm known as the Sacramento Rivercats, so they'll shell out pitchers because they have the inventory.
The Giants should only lose 5 - 8 more games with the loss of Schmidt but the addition of Zito
2006-12-28 07:06:15 · answer #6 · answered by Mergeman 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Zito will do fine with the Giants, it's the rest of the team I'd worry about.
2006-12-28 09:00:27 · answer #7 · answered by kenrayf 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Giants will be lucky to get a full year from Zito. I think that he will be respectable but not spectacular. The Giants were desperate to give a pitcher such a long contract.
2006-12-28 09:02:26 · answer #8 · answered by rudyg39 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
good analysis k-dawg
i think it's a good signing.. a lot of money.. but still a good signing
7-8 years is too long of a contract.. meaning he will be about 36 before his time is up.. that's what worries me
who's to say he will break down like mulder and the other old school A's? he's still been one of the most consistent.. hopefully he keeps it up
the pickings were slim for the giants off-season.. they needed a lefty.. and i think zito will be successful pitching in the national league and @ at&t park..
one of the better SF signings.. better than the GRANDFATHER picks they just signed (i.e. bonds, molina, aurilia, roberts).. run support will be suspect
2006-12-28 07:12:09 · answer #9 · answered by do it movin' 1 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Hopefully we will win the WS with Zito, its still a long shot. I am not paying his salary.
2006-12-28 07:28:00 · answer #10 · answered by broj7400 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋