Three, two, one...
This makes me sick. From today's San Francisco Chronicle:
This also makes me ill. From today's Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
Must be if even A's owner Lew Wolff is talking like Zito's gone. This is from the Chron from two weeks ago (August 16):
Nevertheless it's going to be a sad day for me when I hear for sure that Barry Zito, the last piece of the Big Three, is leaving the A's.
Zito's agent, Scott Boras, attended the game, no doubt aware Roy Oswalt signed a five-year, $73 million contract with Houston on Tuesday. Zito figures to command even more in free agency this offseason. [SFgate.com]Darn Scott Boras and his avaricious little black heart!
This also makes me ill. From today's Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
Despite a contract that could pay Kevin Millwood $60 million over five years, Rangers owner Tom Hicks said Wednesday he would be willing to make a similar commitment to the right free-agent pitcher.Who are the other owners out there just salivating to get their hands on Zito? And who says it's a foregone conclusion that Zito's going to NY or L.A.?
He probably won't get the chance, because the only free-agent pitcher who is likely to command that level of salary is Oakland's Barry Zito, who seems destined to be playing for a big-market team in New York or Los Angeles in 2007. [Star-Telegram.com]
Must be if even A's owner Lew Wolff is talking like Zito's gone. This is from the Chron from two weeks ago (August 16):
Even Wolff knows, it's up to Billy Beane. I'm going to stand by whatever Beane decides. Sure I was crushed when Huddy was traded, but we saw that coming. Yes, I was shocked when Mulder was traded. I nearly drove off the freeway when I got the news. But in Billy we trust."Barry needs a big-market team to justify the kind of contract he deserves," Lewis Wolff said. "It's really up to Billy (Beane) and not to me, but he is a terrific young man -- I can make him a real-estate deal."
Wolff laughed and added, "That's counted (as a contract), by the way. If he stays with us or wherever he goes, I wish him so well." [SFgate.com]
Nevertheless it's going to be a sad day for me when I hear for sure that Barry Zito, the last piece of the Big Three, is leaving the A's.
posted by blank book at 3:59 PM
4 Comments:
Barry Zito leaving the A's isn't the worst thing for the franchise. The worst thing for the A's would be to give a player $80 million then have that player not perform up to that contract. That's Mark McGwire circa 1993 to 1996. The A's had so much money tied up in McGwire that they couldn't make any moves to improve the team. And McGwire was out of the line up most of the time during years so the A's were really up the creek without a paddle.
I believe Billy Beane summed it up best when he said that a small market team can survive if a player becomes a free agent and thrives with another team. But a small market team can not survive if it gives out doles out big contracts to players and have them not perform. That's not a knock on any individual player. That's just the unfair way the business works.
I'll miss Zito too. But we'll all deal with it and move on.
The main reason we know Barry Zito is out of here is because we suspect there is no way in heck he's going to give the A's a hometown discount.
The guy knows he can command $15M a year in any large market. How about the NY Mets? Rumor is they're willing to pick up that kind of tab.
Unlike most fans, I'm not *that* much into Eric Chavez. All this time I've been looking for a player to hitch my wagon to -- preferably for the long haul. It looked like Crosby for a year or two there. So for me Zito is a familiar face -- damn handsome one at that -- who I want to see around for a lot longer.
When Zito goes, I'll get over it. I got over Mulder VERY quickly, thanks to Haren. With Huddy it took a lot longer.
I hope Zito isn't stupid enough to make any inappropriate or antagonizing comments directed at A's fans or Oakland on his way out.
There's alwasy a possibilty Zito will return to the A's towards the end of his career. In 2017, Zito will be closing in on 40 and he may want to get his 300 career victory as a member of the Atheletics, the team he led to a World Series victory in 2006. Greg Maddux returned to the Cubs and Rickey Henderson came back to the A's, so there's always a possibility.
I like that idea a lot. :-)
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