December 28, 2006

 

Barry Zito


I've basically given up on this blog to focus on my other one (read the post below), but I had to get this out there: The Zito contract (7 years, $126 mill) is absolutely the worst deal of the offseason. He doesn't throw even mid-90's, doesn't have a good second pitch after his curveball, and doesn't strike out anybody. Pitchers like that don't age well. I know starting pitching is hard to find, but Zito's getting the sixth-richest contract in baseball history. You can't tell me he's worth that kind of money.

Another thing to think about - here's a lefty (meaning he'll face a lot of right-handed batters) who relies on his breaking ball and can't miss bats. That means a lot of action for the left fielder, right? And who do the Giants have in left field? The corpse of Barry Bonds. Plus, Zito doesn't throw a lot of strikes, so he won't eat up as many innings as you'd expect for that kind of money.

A third thing: Each of Oakland's Big Three (Hudson, Mulder, Zito) starters threw a lot of innings early in their careers, and this year both Hudson and Mulder broke down. Zito's thrown 200+ IP each full year in the big leagues, and he's one year younger than the first two. Is it crazy to think the same will happen to Zito?

Three things that make this deal a little less terrible: 1)He's going to the NL, 2)He's going to a pretty big park, and 3)He won't have to be the Giants' #1 starter (Matt Cain). But they're still spending way too much money for an average #2 starter.

A couple other opinions that I might elaborate on someday:

Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmerio, etc. should be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

But Pete Rose should not.

Drew Brees for NFL MVP is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. LaDanian Tomlinson is having the single greatest season by anybody, at any position, in NFL history. Imagine if someone like A-Rod hit 90 home runs next year while playing solid defense at third, stealing 20 bases, and hitting .320. That's what Tomlinson's doing this year - his 31+ TDs are the home runs, the rushing yards are the batting average, the receiving yards are the stolen bases and all the other things (blocking for Rivers, opening up the field for Gates and the WRs, etc.) are the defense. What more could LDT possibly have done to win the MVP? (Of course, at this point, if A-Rod did that, he still might not win the MVP because he hit only .280 in the "clutch". The lesson, as always: People are stupid.)

The only reason David Stern introduced the new ball was to add points onto his scorers' totals. All the stars in the NBA right now are either outside shooters or finishers around the rim. The new ball bounced better around the rim and off the glass than the old one, making it easier to make shots - nobody's disputing that. But everybody kept complaining so much about the ball that Stern decided it would be better to end all the whining once and for all and cut his losses.

Terrell Owens is being poorly portrayed by the media, and is nothing close to a clubhouse cancer. I'd take him on my team anyday. (Kidding! Just making sure you were paying attention)

I hate Vince Young - Every time I say something bad about Vince Young (I thought USC would win last year's title game - I still believe they were the better team, Texas just got lucky; I also thought VY would suck in the NFL), he proves me wrong so completely that I now hate him. If I ever get into the Football Writers Association (or whatever the hell they call it), you're never getting my MVP vote...

Finally, "Drew Bledsoe's" blog is the funniest web site ever. If you don't think this is funny, either you hate sports or you have no soul. Either way, I feel bad for you.


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