Why do you think Barry Zito is getting paid way to much?

Question

He's not worth 18 million a year.

Answer 1

All players are overpaid, its just a matter of being ahead of the yanks and the muts on this.

Answer 2

Barry Zito hit the jackpot when signing with the Giants, getting the largest contract ever given to a pitcher at $126 million over 7 years.

Is he getting paid way to much? Is it crazy what the Giants paid for him? Yes of course.

Signing pitchers to a big, long contract is a risk. Especially 7 years. Anything can go wrong: elbow problems, decrease in velocity, shoulder problems, etc.

Welcome to the Golden Era. This has been one of the worst off-seasons ever, concerning dollar figures. Pitchers like Ted Lilly and Gil Meche are making $10 million and $11 million a season. They have been medicore throughout their career and at best are 4th starters.

Zito, on the other hand took advantage of those signings, and also by hiring Scott Boras as his agent. If Lilly and Meche can command that type of dollar, what would Barry Zito demand? Well Zito, a former Cy Young Winner, who has been an ace on Oakland, would want to demand top dollar and that is what he got.

Zito has a career record of 102-63, with a 3.55 ERA. He has never been on the DL before, which shows his durability, managing to make +30 starts and log +200 innings for the last six seasons. He was hands down the best starter in the free agent market this off-season. With teams needing pitching, and watching pitchers who are at best 4th starters making $10 million a season, Zito was alble to get $18 million a season.

Did the Giants pay too much? Yes; however they needed to replace Jason Schmidt. Zito should benefit moving to the NL West and to pitcher friendly AT&T Park in San Francisco. Dayn Perry from Fox Sports words it perfectly:

"As a result, the Giants should be worried whether the 29-year-old Zito is going to be able to maintain a level of adequacy over the life of his new contract. So he's overrated in the present, and his performance is likely to diminish more than you might think in the latter years of the contract. Those aren't the makings of a sensible long-term commitment" (FOX SPORTS).

Overall, Zito was lucky he became a free agent after the 2006 season. Imagine what pitchers like Johan Santana, Roy Halladay, and Chris Carpenter would demand if they were free agents? Makes you think...

Answer 3

It was a bad offseason. The Giants want a postseason very badly and need to make up for the loss of Schmidt. There were very few good starters on the market which is why we saw many ok pitchers being paid the big bucks. And yes nobody is worth 18 million, not even A-Rod (25 million) Jeter (20 million) or Clemens (20 million).

Answer 4

As a fellow faithful fan of the green and gold. I feel he's only worth maybe 12 - 13 million as far as I am concerned. He's 29 and i wouldn't give any pitcher in the 30s, no matter who they are more than a 4 year deal. Yes, he's durable, never missed a start, but his numbers have been declining ever since he won the Cy Young. He had an all time high either last year or the year before with homeruns given up. He's taking longer time in games to settle down and get into a groove. He throws a ton of pitches. At some point is health will suffer. He's not nearly as crafty as say maddux. people are figuring out how to hit the curve ball. His fast ball is one of the SLOWEST in the league and now he's going to the national league that is more hitter friendly.

And contrary to Z's request for us to come see him across the bay when the a's are out of town? I would rather watch paint dry than show up at whatever the heck stadium they are calling it now.

I wish him well and thank goodness he's not with the angels or the yankees. he has some common sense!

Answer 5

He's not worth it. But you being an A's fan should realize that the Giants needed to sign a big name player to keep fans in the seats of AT&T Park.

They lost out on Soriano, couldn't even sign Carlos Lee, and made a huge mistake not fully going after Vlad a couple years ago.

With Bonds probably retiring after 2007, they'll have no big names. Thus make Zito an offer he can't refuse, and the Giants win big time with the fans by keeping one of the Bay Area's favorite athletes in the Bay Area.

Answer 6

I'm an avid A's fan too! And I actually think that the Giants are paying Zito a lot because they need that big pitcher in there to help them do something this season. Yeah, Schmidt and Cain are doing pretty good, but not enough to win a World Series. So they get Zito to greatly strengthen the staff, and they signed Bonds to help their offense, and I think the Giants believe Zito can help them win a lot more. That's why he's getting the kind of money he's getting.

Answer 7

Giants fan here. i agree, Zito is over paid but what you do about it? baseball has no salary cap and is driven by supply and demand. this free agent class sucked except for zito, lee, and soriano. so the supply is low and the demand for these players were high so naturally their value rose. so everybody is getting overpaid. but im happy zito is a giant. he is very durable and has a great work ethic and has never missed a start in his career. and he is now playing in a pitchers park and in the NL which will help his #s tremendously. suppan got 42mil, meche got like 55mil, soriano and lee are getting like 100 mil. juan piere and matthews jr are getting 45 and 50 mill respectively. all these prices are way too much but thats baseball for ya.

Answer 8

Barry Zito is getting paid 18 a year because baseball has grown out of control. When one or two players salaries (A-Rod and Soriano), are bigger than a whole team (Devil Rays), then it has ruined the whole game.

Answer 9

Yes he is getting paid way to much. Look at his record last year 16 and 10 which isnt that bad. But he gives up a lot of hits which isnt good. I would have taken him in but fore a price like 10 million a year or something like that.

Answer 10

Because hes not a great pitcher. Hes good, but far from great. San Fran overpaid b/c they knew if they got into a bidding war with the new york teams they would lose. They will without a doubt regret that signing.

Answer 11

He definitely is not worth that much but he is a valuable pitcher being a lefty and having a pretty good array of pitches including his curve which is one of if not the best in the league. The Giants needed pitching with Jason Schmidt gone and they got the best pitcher they could find and persuaded him with their money.