In 2002, Barry Zito was difficult to touch. The lean left-hander had a curveball that baffled opposing hitters and simultaneously propelled the underdog Oakland Athletics to an AL West title. Zito won 23 games that season and was rewarded with his first and only Cy Young distinction. Times were much more generous to Zito over a decade ago. Now, the generosity at an expiration and the bending balls a little less bendy towards home plate, this southpaw is at the end of the road.
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Zito is an aging gladiator, hopeful for one final bout amidst the adorning masses of the O.co Coliseum. Whether the Athletics grant him the opportunity or not could become a point of contention in the weeks to come. But for right now, Zito’s real swan song was his distasteful 2013 season.
Now 36 and clinging onto a chance of relevance that is sweeping past him quicker than May thundershowers, Zito holds a 7.71 ERA over three Triple-A starts with the Athletics’ minor league affiliate. What’s next, a demotion to Double-A? There would hardly be any point, and I doubt either party involved would be open to entertaining that discussion. Zito is doing nothing more than offering up batting practice to young men when he takes the mound for the Nashville Sounds with his current H/9 of 15.4.
It’s a true wonder why the San Francisco Giants ever handed him a $126 million contract in 2007. There are, however, few questions as to why the club elected to buyout his $18 million option in 2014 for $7 million. Before his time with Oakland ended in 2006, Zito had recorded only one season after 2002 with an ERA below 3.50. He was still achieving 200 IP per year, but the once heralded breaking ball he threw became something many hitters had tamed themselves to by refusing to swing at it out of the zone.
Mar 31, 2015; Tempe, AZ, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Barry Zito (75) looks on during the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
In 2002, Zito’s BB/9 was 3.1. By the time 2006 rolled around, it was 4.0 and his K:BB ratio had shriveled from 2.33 to 1.53. His then record-setting contract for a pitcher with the Giants became something scoffed at by fans and often scrutinized by analysts and the media. San Francisco is no stranger to questionable contracts with pitchers, though. See Tim Lincecum‘s latest extension with the club for proof of that. In hindsight, it would appear the Giants actually dodged a bullet when Lincecum rejected an original five-year, $100 million extension prior to the 2012 season. Either way, the Giants still seem to get over these hurdles and manage to outpace everyone else to the finish line somehow.
Zito was hardly worth the nine figure sum allotted to him by the Giants. He recorded a WAR of 3.0 during seven seasons there, only once winning more games than he lost. Spending 2014 away from the game, Zito probably was not content with how he left baseball, or perhaps, how baseball left him feeling.
The Oakland Athletics and Billy Beane know a bargain when it comes along. A 36-year-old former Cy Young winner could have something left in his tank. For a cheap, two-way minor league contract, why not try and re-ignite an old flame between an All-Star pitcher and the same club that drafted him almost 16 years ago? Even if it means employment as primarily a reliever.
Zito logged 20.2 innings in spring training. His ERA was 4.79 and his K:BB ratio was 2.80. After struggling heavily against the minor league hitting the Pacific Coast League has to offer, it’s clear Zito is nothing more than a dull insurance policy for the A’s. He may not like the terms he and the game of baseball will depart on, but Barry Zito should be fully recognizant that the time is painstakingly near.