According to John Shea, Barry Zito could be activated as early as today. As such, it seems like an appropriate time to re-evaluate his role as a Giant…
The Zito contract was an obvious mistake from day one — no question about it. Multi-year $100MM contracts for pitchers are inherently risky, and that’s exacerbated by the fact that Zito wasn’t even much of an ace when he signed with the Giants. In fact, by 2007, he had declined to the point where he could honestly be considered nothing more than a solid mid-rotation arm.
In any event, I more-or-less consider myself to be a Barry Zito apologist. Over these past five years, he’s made a lot more money than he deserves, quite obviously, but I think he’s been better than he gets credit for. From 2007-2010, he averaged 1.85 WAR per season, which — contract details aside — is great for a fifth-starter.
In March, Bruce Jenkins wrote that Zito’s position with the Giants was “definit...
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