It's getting late early for Zito
Posted: Thursday, April 03, 2008 7:37 PM
The most significant game that every baseball team is guaranteed to play is its home opener. Opening Day on the road is secondary. San Francisco started Barry Zito in the season opener at Dodger Stadium. For their home opener on April 7 the Giants will hand the ball to Matt Cain. In that move, designed to throw off the casual fan and soothe the ego of a wounded veteran, the Giants speak volumes about their heavy investment in Zito.
It’s too early to place Zito’s deal with the Giants in the Mike Hampton category but as Yogi Berra famously claimed, “It’s getting late early.”
Is the Zito contract going to be remembered as the greatest heist of Scott Boras’ reign as a super agent?
Will one game, a 2006 playoff game at the Metrodome where Zito outdueled Johan Santana with the help of two Frank Thomas homers, be responsible for the greatest mistake in free-agent pitching history?
Or can Zito rediscover a fastball that was routinely clocked in the low 80’s Monday?
Can “Zicasso,” the legendary sales tool created by Boras two years ago to push Zito at a Giants management that was spurned by every free-agent hitter, forced to re-sign Barry Bonds and in need of a face to appease a restless fan base, relocate the artistry that made him a Cy Young Award winner six years ago?
Zito is fortunate on several fronts: San Francisco is a forgiving sports town and the Giants will protect and coddle him in an effort to score a return on their investment. But the truth is that Zito is just another pitcher, albeit well paid, on a staff trying to bolster a weak team.
Cain is the future, hence his home opener assignment. Tim Lincecum is the other great hope with young arms massing at the Single-A and Double-A levels. The hope still exists that Zito can be the staff anchor, the smiling face of a franchise trying to rebuild around young pitching. But Cain has already passed Zito and Lincecum isn’t far behind.
It’s hard when a player crosses the line from expectation to pity. I’ve seen the awkwardness in a clubhouse when a once-great player struggles to the point that he hurts his team. Zito hurt his team last year and Opening Day this year didn’t offer any reason to dismiss 2007 as a fluke.
FIVE MORE SWINGS
1. Some interesting factoids from over the past five seasons: Ichiro Suzuki has the most hits (1,142), but Albert Pujols has a higher average (.336 to Ichiro’s .332). With the most RBIs is David Ortiz (642), but Pujols has more extra-base hits (429 to Ortiz’s 424). A-Rod has the most homers (220) with Pujols (211) second. One conclusion: in an era featuring a dominant American League, Pujols is the one NL player able to hang with the big boys. Also, interesting that second in hits over the last five years is Michael Young (1,059), who is without question the most underrated player in the game.
2. Opening Day saw Juan Pierre on the Dodgers bench. Pierre is third with 1,006 hits over the last five years and he has the look of a player who can’t offer much help off the bench. Andre Ethier is starting in his place.
3. The big news in South Florida is the $17 million payroll for the Marlins. You can imagine how that sits in an area that has finally committed to building a park suitable for baseball. Yet the Marlins defend their position as a “low-revenue team.” Wonder how the Steinbrenners feel about that stance when they see Florida reap about $30 million in revenue sharing and another $30 million in national broadcast money. Then the Fish disclose they have a marketing budget in “eight figures,” as in $10 million. Let’s see, $17 million in player salaries, $10 million in marketing and an empty stadium. What business school teaches that model?
4. South Florida would be a logical place to host the World Baseball Classic next March. The international flavor at Dolphin Stadium is mind-blowing. I’m watching South American tennis players receive rabid support in Key Biscayne this week. Question: does Major League Baseball allow the Marlins to profit as a potential host or does the revenue go to a central fund from which the Marlins receive welfare?
5. Welcome back to the game these familiar names all now with new teams: Darin Erstad (Houston), Mike Sweeney (Oakland), Scott Podsednik (Colorado), Glendon Rusch (San Diego) and Octavio Dotel (Chicago White Sox). Among the veterans who were released during camp and who will try to resurrect careers: Mike Stanton, Woody Williams, Jaret Wright, Mike Myers, Edgardo Alfonzo, Arthur Rhodes and Steve Kline.
