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Northern California Baseball Blog and Q&A

Paul Gutierrez
Raised in Barstow, Calif., where he played community college baseball for two years, Paul Gutierrez has worked at Sports Illustrated and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where he covered his alma mater's Runnin' Rebels at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. During a six-year stint at the Los Angeles Times, he co-authored Tommy Davis' "Tales from the Dodgers Dugout." He came to The Bee in October 2005 and is now a Bay Area sports features writer who concentrates on baseball during the spring and summer.

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May 23, 2007

Was Zito worth the bucks?

I don't think Barry Zito's performance is what Peter Magowan had in mind when he shelled out a record $126 million to land the A's free agent pitcher. Perhaps the money could have been better spent for some everyday players who could give a solid rotation some support.

To use an appropriate Jeff Kent phrase, the Giants "panicked and overspent" to land the purported ace of the staff. It's way too early to label Zito a bust because he's traditionally a second-half pitcher, but the target is clearly on his back because of the exorbitant contract.

The other four starters may not have reached the point of wondering, 'Hey, what am I worth?' - but you can't blame the fans from getting a little restless. After all, Zito clearly is the least effective pitcher in the rotation.

His 5.13 ERA entering a Wednesday night start against Houston was nearly double that of counterparts Noah Lowry (2.69), Matt Morris (2.93), Tim Lincecum (3.08) and Matt Cain (3.30). You can't blame Zito for taking the loot, but you surely can expect him to pitch better.

After all, he's making his 10th start at roughly the one-third point of the season. That's ample time for reasonable evaluation, and Ginats general manager Brian Sabean expressed some concern" following Zito's seven-run, seven-walk debacle in the recent 15-3 loss at Oakland.

Placing that mound meltdown in perspective, he gave up more runs in four-plus innings than the rest of the rotation did in the next four starts and 301/3 innings. Cain, Morris, Lowry and Lincecum were a combined 3-1 with a 1.78 ERA, yielding 19 hits and six runs.

Manager Bruce Bochy, however, contends he's not concerned because Zito "has been through everything - playoffs, rough outings - and the great players have the ability to put adversity behind them."

He added that the Giants will "look at the end of the season and see where Barry is at." But will that be too late to quell the constant critique that accompanies gaudy contracts? And the bigger question remains: Is Zito still a "great player?"

-Nick Peters

Posted by Bill Bradley at 12:35 PM | Comments

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