Zito... what to say?

Well... Merry (belated) Christ-mas, Happy New Year, etc etc... you get the point, I'm finished with finals and I'm on break until mid-January, so maybe I can actually update this blog on a regular basis...

Anyway, there has been a lot of things going on lately... for starters, in a recent chat (linked to me by NoMaas.org), Baseball America's Jim Callis ranks the Yankees' farm system as #6 in the majors... can I get a BOO-YAH? :-)

For more celebrations, this goes out to the Met-haters and for the Yankee fans who enjoy and relish in the inter-league rivalry... Barry Zito, who people have inaccurately linked to the Yankees (especially with the trade talks of the Big Unit), doesn't sign with the Mets... but instead...

From ESPN:

Barry Zito is staying in the Bay Area with the San Francisco Giants.

Sources told ESPN's Peter Gammons that the former Oakland A's pitcher has agreed to a seven-year, $126 million contract with the Giants.

The deal includes an $18 million option for 2014 and a complete no-trade clause, a source told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.

If Zito pitches 600 innings over the last three years of the agreement, 400 innings over the last two or 200 in the final year of the deal, he can either exercise a player option or opt out of the contract.

Zito is scheduled to have a physical Friday, and the Giants planned to announce their agreement with the three-time All-Star later in the day.

Zito's deal ties for the sixth largest overall, matching the $126 million, seven-year extension agreed to this month by Toronto and center fielder Vernon Wells. Previously, the largest contract for a pitcher was Mike Hampton's $121 million, eight-year deal with the Colorado Rockies before the 2001 season.

Texas, Seattle and the New York Mets also pursued Zito, the top available pitcher on the free-agent market. The 28-year-old left-hander spent the last seven seasons across San Francisco Bay pitching with the Oakland Athletics, and staying in the area appeared to be a factor in his decision.

What is there to say about this?

1. The Mets don't get him, leaving them without a dominant pitcher and hurting them greatly...

2. It gets him out of the AL... though he never bothered the Yankees much (last 3 years: 1-5 with a 7.01 ERA)...

3. Zito receives the biggest deal for a pitcher ever... not Webb, not Wang, not Halliday, not even Santana... but Barry Zito receives the biggest deal for a pitcher...

I know the deals that other pitchers got (including Meche to the Royals), but this is rather ridiculous... 18 million a year for seven years...

Steve (from WasWatching) thought an accurate and fair offer from the Yankees for Zito would be: 3 yr/$48 mil with a club-option for a 4th year...

Personally, I would have given (the most from any team) 17 million per year for 5 years, giving him 85 million for 5 years... but Barry Zito (and Boras, mostly) cashed in on a shallow free agent market and cashed in big...

If Barry Zito got this much, imagine what Carlos Zambrano will get next year in the free agent market... the money will only go up and it will continue going up for years to come... will we see another 250 million deal (ala Alex Rodriguez) in the next few years?

With the way things are going now, there is no doubt in my mind that we will... I just hope the Yankees won't offer the 250 million dollars... unless Philip Hughes is the second coming of Jesus Christ... I mean, Roger Clemens...

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As a small New Years' resolution, I'm trying for shorter and more frequent posts in this blog... we'll see what happens...

Happy reading! And happy ending to your 2006! :-)

B(rent)

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P.S.: EJ (formerly from the Fire Joe Torre blog) has a new fantastic blog up called Pinstripe Potentials... some of my analysis and looks at potential prospects come from the comprehensive scouting profiles from EJ, and what he provides is a priceless resource for almost less than nothing... :-P, check it out when you get a chance!