Stark Mortifies Barry Zito

Jayson Stark reached out to "high ranking officials" from two ballclubs to get their opinions and exit strategies regarding the now-infamous Barry Zito predicament. The response was unflinchingly real and rather ugly to be honest:

“Here’s what they should do,” he said. “They should go to Zito and say, ‘Look, it’s clear this is not going to work. Let’s put together an NBA-type deferral package. We’ll take the whole contract, defer it over 30 years with no interest and then we’ll release you, to let you start fresh somewhere else.’

“The club could get significant cost savings that way. You take $112 million over 30 years, that’s $3.7 million a year. You’re better off paying him $3.7 million a year to not pitch than having him go out and do what he’s doing. … In the NBA, this happens a lot. The union would never let him do that in our sport. But you know what? From the player’s standpoint, he’d be better off.”

The first and last time I will ever feel bad for someone making $126 million.

The $126 Million Reliever

One of the most unbelievable stories in Major League Baseball is Barry Zito's complete regression into a Jamie Moyer-like starter, except he is 29 and not collecting Social Security checks.

The story took another ugly turn as Zito has been moved to the Giants bullpen until they can fake his death further notice:

Barry Zito was demoted to the bullpen Monday by the San Francisco Giants, who hope the former ace can correct his problems by working in relief.

Zito, who only 16 months ago signed a $126 million, seven-year contract with the Giants to lead their rotation, was informed of the move in a meeting with manager Bruce Bochy.

The left-hander has lost his first six starts this season and has a 7.53 ERA that jumped considerably after Zito was tagged for eight earned runs in a 10-1 loss Sunday to Cincinnati.

Good Thing They Didn't Sign This Guy

The fall of Barry Zito is perhaps as perplexing a baseball scenario as I've come across. He was the epitome of an innings-eater in the mold of an Andy Pettitte in that he allowed far too many baserunners yet frequently beguiled his way out of trouble.

Since his first full season in the majors, Zito was the model of health and stability, throwing at least 200 innings all six years in Oakland, missing bats, winning a Cy Young and posting healthy ERA's. With only 2004 serving as a disappointment, Zito was making his way into the National League and an expected bounce in his performance would all but validate the $126 million San Francisco had given him.

However, 2007 was not nearly as kind to Zito as most everyone in baseball expected. His fastball had dropped into the low-80s and he posted the poorest k/9 in his career. A mystifying feat considering the weaker lineups he encountered in the NL. Which begs the question, can a 29 year-old really regress so rapidly and so drastically?

The Yankees [as well as a host of other potential suitors] are now rejoicing they did not throw $100+ million at the previously dominant lefty.

From the article:

Zito went after the hitters. He didn’t mess around. He threw strikes.

And the Dodgers ate them up, every juicy morsel.

That shouldn’t have been surprising, given Zito’s horrendous spring training. In fact, every detail of the Giants’ 5-0 loss seemed to fulfill the scorched-earth expectations of this club.
...
How does a 29-year-old decline as much as Zito has? Even at his absolute worst during seven years in Oakland, he promised to be a steady 14-game winner. At his best, he offered stunning mastery, the ability to stare down the brilliant Johan Santana in a playoff game.
...
The number of hits wasn’t as disturbing as the authority behind them. The Dodgers made great contact, getting nothing on the cheap. The radar gun offered another bad verdict. For the most part, Zito didn’t throw harder than 84 mph all day. He knows his fastball has lost velocity, and doesn’t quite understand why.

“Right now, it’s 84-85 at the high end, which obviously is frustrating for me,” he said. “You’ve got a look at, usually when things like this happen, it’s either an injury, which it is not, or it’s something mechanical. So, you know, I’m always learning and trying to get better, and those things and obviously looking at old tapes and things like that and want to get that 88-89 back, and I’m sure it’s just a small tweak away.”

Strange. It will be an interesting story to watch, especially with the poor start to Zito's 2008. However, the southpaw still has the dynamite 12-to-6 curve and should he ever rediscover his high 80's heater, he could quickly regain his status as a frontline starter.

Brian Sabean and Company are hoping praying they aren't the April Fools again this year.