baseballbythebay

If you’re a Giants fan, or even a baseball fan, I’m sure you turn off the TV every time Barry Zito steps on the mound and takes the ball.  He’s not just bad, he’s terrible, he stinks, and he makes people wish Livan Hernandez was back.  Ok, maybe not that last part, but Barry Zito’s fall has been astonishing.  When Zito signed the deal to cross the bay, unrealistic expectations were put on him.  He wasn’t worth 126 million dollars back then, and he certainly isn’t worth that now.  Purhaps it’s the pressure from the contract, purhaps it’s from the abuse his arm took in his Oakland days, or purhaps he just forgot how to pitch.  Whatever the reason, the Giants have themselves a grade A bust.  The worst part, he’s only in year two of the deal. Solutions?

There’s been some talk that ex Mets and A’s pitching coach Rick Peterson could be brought in to help out Zito.  Maybe this could be good for both of them.  Peterson’s looking for a job now, and Zito’s looking for, well, just about anything.  Peterson’s always had a reputation as a very good pitching coach, and he knows Zito well, maybe he can find something no one else has found yet.  Maybe just being around someone who helped him to his early success can turn Zito around. Then again, I doubt Peterson can make Zito’s fastball gain 4-5 mph, or piece together his shattered confidence.

Maybe the Giants will just eat their pride and put him in the bullpen like they should.  Or even better, send him back to the minors, and just have him start over again.  Dontrelle Willis, Rich Hill, Rick Ankiel all had to take that path.  Whether that works or not is still to be seen, but it’s better than just straight losing once every 5 days.  If the minors is not  an option, purhaps he still could be useful in the bullpen.  For the most part, Zito has been relatively effective against lefties this year, it’s the righties who have ripped him to shreds.  Working out of the bullpen against lefties could purhaps allow him to gain some much needed confidence.  Then again, the Giants just don’t want to make him the most expensive reliever ever.

The truth is, there is no good way to handle the situation. His contract alone makes the situation hard to handle.  You can’t trade him because no one wants a 126 million dollar loser.  You can’t cut him because you’d still owe him that much money.  You can’t demote him because I’m sure the Fresno Grizzlies even don’t want him.  At this point, the Giants just has to hope he turns it around.  I do feel bad for him, because he was in a no win situation to start with.  I want to see him find some kind of form back, but I just don’t see it happening.  Maybe we can just give him to the Dodgers, where he’ll remain useful to us.  If there’s any good news, he hasn’t turned 30 yet, and it’s just rare to see someone flame out at this age.  Perhaps he will learn to pitch with what he has, like Jamie Moyer.  Either way, he needs some magic.

Anyone else got any suggestions?

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