Buying out Zito’s Contract….
Watching all these NBA players agree to buy outs got me to start fantasizing again about the Giants buying out Zito’s contract. He’s owed 57.5 mil through 2013 plus the 7 mil buy out option in 2014. Can someone explain to me why the Giants can’t buyout Zito’s contract? If the NBA players union has no problem with it why would the baseball players union take a negative stance on it? I did some light googling on this and came up with almost nothing on whether or not a baseball team can buy out a player’s contract.
What would a buy out even cost? Would Zito take 57.5 million? How many people walk away from several million dollars but Zito HAS to be able to put a price tag on removing himself from an environment where he is constantly reminded of failing. Does he REALLY want to sit around here through 2013 having people rag on him 24/7?
A change of scenery might actually do this guy a modicum of good. Even if he continues to smoke massive pole, it couldn’t feel as bad in the new city as it does here. It just couldn’t, right?
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
This is my dream – Fuck NBA teams buying out players contracts . . . No, I want to see this – Zito doing a Mike Bibby and buying out his OWN contract and then thinking that the NY Yankees will be giving him a call for their stretch run ala’ Heat.
I know, I know . . . Dream on.
I thought the bums bought out Andruw’s contract by deferring the money over a long period of time. He is (or at least was) a Boras client, too.
For anyone interested in the Bonds imbroglio, or fiasco, or whatever — the judge will let the jurors read, but not look at, Playboy:
“Theodore Cassman, of Arguedas Cassman & Headley, urged the judge to reconsider her position on allowing Bell’s testimony about observations of the slugger’s testicle size and sexual performance.
. . . .
“Changes in testicle size as a result of steroid use are so minimal and hard to measure that it takes a specific medical device, and an expert will discredit any layperson testimony to the contrary, Cassman said.
“Illston heard the lawyers out, but didn’t say whether she’d revisit her rulings. In general, the judge said she planned to rule from the bench during the trial on much of the disputed testimony and evidence.
“However, there was one item she was sure she didn’t need to see: Bell’s Playboy pictorial. “I don’t really care to see that photograph,” she said. But then she added that an article that ran with the pictures could be admitted since it goes to Bell’s point of view.”
The Recorder, 3/2/11
“Exasperated”, sure. That doesn’t mean they are going to eat $57 mill. The thing is, as a 5, he is fair to middling. He can give you 5+ shakey innings that may or may not keep you in a given game. He cabn beat free-swinging tams like AZ at times, or implode like that SD game late last season. In the range of most 5s.
Kinda like having a $60 million back up CF . . .
These are Sabean’s mistakes, and they will just linger . . .
In Sabe’s defense (not that I’m a Sabean defender), Zito was McGowan’s brain fart. Sabean was pretty much ordered to pick up Zito.
agreed.
Bruce Jenkins article on SFgate suggests a buy out is possible, and I heard on KHTK the Sac town sports station that Jenkins and Zito are pretty close?? they also thought that Suppan?? would take Zitos place or some rookie from the farm. I would like to see some rookie come up.
I dunno, in baseball they just waive a guy and pay the contract till it runs out..
After reading Jenkins, I do think Zito may not be able to handle this anymore. I’m talking about the agonizing, the humility, the embarrassment. Maybe last yr’s collapse was the final straw and he has sort of mentally caved–hence the babe, the lack of conditioning…I’m just wondering obviously. I just think it’s awfully difficult for him to put 3 yrs of disappointment aside and go out now and pitch relaxed and confident.
Yeah, RT, having him pull a Marquis Grissom would be cool, if highly unlikely.
Shit, behind the scenes the entire team may be laughing at him, calling him a waste of money, punk-ass surfer, whatever. If his spirit is crushed, awwww, too bad. I still think they’ll just trot his ass out there and hope for the best.
Come playoff time, here’s your rally towel, Barry. Stir up the crowd . . .
The other thing the I just didn’t keep track of was the fact he is only 40-57 as a Giant. WTF I thought he was closer to .500. What a waste of years with him!!
Jenkins was just on KNBR talking about his story. To me, it sounded like there’s just nothing else to talk about since it’s only spring training and how many times can you mention Brandon Belt? As much as I’d like to see Zito gone, I’m afraid we’re stuck with him for at least another year.
Colo was able to dump Mike Hampton’s huge contract in a sort of complicated 3 way deal. Different economic climate then, but maybe they can salvage something.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/021118hampton.html
Jenkins just summed it up best himself on KNBR. “Zito is the symbol of negativity.”
He instills zero confidence. Hell, he even makes the most whack of the whacksockers go limp.
I’ve read where Zito has a full on no-trade clause. Boras covered all the angles. So, like Darth Al, he’s “not goin’ anywhere” unless he agrees to it. From one perspective, I get that somebody on the Giants leaked this stuff to Jenkins, not the beat guys, to light a fire under Zito, and/or tell the fans that they’re listening to fan discontent. On the other, I don’t see how this leaking does anything to Zito. He just doesn’t have the goods anymore, and hasn’t for several years, to be consistently anything better than a mediocre #5. If anything, maybe it just gets into his head something else negative, where his head must be already pretty full of that when he goes out there again, ready to get shelled, walk three guys in a row, and/or get little run support…
I think he’d gladly waive that for a handful of teams at this point.
AZ cut Russ Ortiz, owing him in the neighborhood of $23 million if I recall correctly . . . It’s not unprecedented, but a huge wad to swallow.
Thing is, Bubble Boy pitched 2/3 of an inning short of 200. As a 5, that’s about all you can hope for. 10-14 would be just fine. Shun has ass, play practical jokes on hm endlessly, make his life miserable. I don’t give a shit. If he can pitch 6 and keep his ERA under 4, hey maybe he goes 12-12.
The supposed lack of Zito’s run support is most likely, to an extent, his own doing as well. Ballplayers may not be rocket scientists but they know baseball and they have psyches. Consciously or unconsciously, they respond and adjust mentally and physically to an historical environment.
In other words, when Zito starts, the other dudes go in expecting a loss.
Exactly. Whether the stats bear it out, I dunno, but it seems the defense is frequently not sharp when he starts. And if there is an early error, he seems to go into protect mode, issues a ton of walks, and then the shelling begins…
The thing that may be different this season is that this squad may be a bit better at run production than the squads he’s had before. Like any #5, He needs 4-5 runs early to get wins, and even then that’s no guarantee, as we’ve seen, that he can get through six still ahead when Bochy comes with the hook. But, this team may be better suited to getting ahead early for him, that could be a benefit at least to bumping his record, and maybe his fragile Zenfull psyche. It’s just tough to escape the notion that this guy is a lefthanded Wellemeyer, without the K potential, at 18X the price…
That’s horesshit for the most part. Matt Cain didn’t get run support for 3 years. Why? Because no one liked him? Yes, the 0 was bad, but 7-16 with a 2.89 ERA? Maybe they pressed? That was the next explanation. To think guys stop hitting because a certain pitcher is out there is a bit nuts.
The thing about Bubble boy is the pace of his games. Even an inning where he gives up 0 runs can take 45 minutes. That has something to do with the defense.
They’re human. They can lack confidence in a picther just as much as a fan. It can effect their offense and defense
Not horseshit at all. I’m not saying the players don’t like him. We’ve seen it, they don’t play well for him. The pace of the game could be part of it, certainly. Even FP Santangeroid used to rip Zits for that very thing…
I mean that affects the defense . . . in a negative way.
So, subconsciously, Aubrey Huff grounds out instead of hitting a double because Bubbles is on the mound?
Or is it more overt?
Franchez says “I hate him, therefore I’ll fuck up my own numbers to spite him?”
I don’t buy it. Is there a trend that BAs go down when he pitches? it all sounds like psychobabble crap . . .
So, the Niner defense doesn’t deflate a little after four straight 3 and outs by Alex?….
Football and baseball are a little different, Snarkk. Look at Cain. 3 years of no run support.
Did the players not like Matty?
Chuck, come on man. If a doofus like Santangello, but an ex-player who knows about these things, is saying that Zito’s antics and pace on the mound and walks are not good for team play behind him, why should we believe otherwise? Cain and Zito are 2 different animals, they can certainly have two different explanations behind their poor W-L records…
Snarkk, then what is the reason? Yes, I’m sure gu8ys lose concentration out there when he drags through an inning. But to think they don’t hit for him is my main point.
It’ll be interesting to see if anyone with the team responds to Jenkins’ hatchet piece. Everyone knows Zito’s a failure and the club would love to dump him. Why publicize it? He a soggy piece of work; no fire’s gonna have any effect on him. Indeed, the added pressure may fuck him up worse.
The obvious problem is replacment. Who will the 5 be? Anybody but Zito? Maybe. Pretty good chance ABZ wouldn’t be worse than Zito would. But I don’t see the team making the announcement this way, with no plan prepared. I think Jenkins just pumped up something that’s obvious to everyone into a “scoop.” Disappoints me. I like Jenkins.
Somebody in management gave this to Jenkins. No way he just pulled this out of thin air. The point of it is that yeah, we all know this stuff, but this is the first time we’ve heard specifically that Giants management is officially “exasperated”, too. Jenkins has the most credibility of any sportswriter left at the Chron. Management did not give it to any of the beat writers, who probably wouldn’t have done anything with it anyway to protect themselves from locker room blowback. I don’t blame Jenkins at all. What’s he ‘sposed to do, NOT publish something given to him on a platter?…
bullshit. Jenkins himself said he heard this from “a source close to the team.” That euphemism doesn’t mean someone inside, someone with the team. When the team had disputes with Benji, it was clear that people inside were talking about them. This “source” isn’t clear at all. Could be an agent for another player; could be a broadcaster. Could be FP Santangelo repeating a rumor he heard from someone who allegedly heard it from someone inside.
Bubbles pace is really the only factor that would come into play. It is interminable. But look at last year.
Did the other players like him when he was 7-2 in the middle of June? And then stop likling him, thus starting the skid?
Chuck, in the second half I saw more than a few games where he gave up runs early, the team came back and Zits went out the next inning and promptly gave it up again. I don’t think the guys tank it but I’d think they would be a bit deflated with a possible “what’s the point” attitude.
The thing is, a lot of teams would love to have a 5 that could pitch 200 innings and get them 10 wins.
Not at $128 mill, but hey, that’s water under the Golden Gate.
Xoot, Suppan may just be the guy they surrepticiously point to and whisper to Barry, “5th starter”. Watch your back . . .
what is one good reason to eat zitos contract? obviously the players on the team like him from everything i read and the only people that regard him as the “symbol of negativity” are the fans and some sportswriters – BFD. our problem is we watch a rotation of studs and when someone with average to below average stuff comes along (zito) – we want to replace them with jeff suppan. zito makes a pile of money for his mediocre stuff, good for him. he still has value to this team. the problem i always had with zito was that management thought of him as something other than a # 4 or 5 starter – game 161 of last year solved that problem.
Chuck, you keep alluding to the other players not “liking” Zito and that wasn’t my point at all. You say football and baseball are a little different. Not when you view this as a job. Look at any workplace (and it *is* their job). Socially you may like everyone but, politics aside, you may put in a little extra effort, consciously or unconsciously, on projects where you have a bit more respect for that co-worker’s abilities as opposed to Joe Schmoe. Great drinking buddy, old Joe, but going out on an audit with him as opposed to Jimmy Schmoe? No contest.
And I’m not stating this as a fact. I’m throwing it out there as a theory.
The A’s would never have won 3 championships if personal feelings affected their performance. Pure hogwash. They have their pride. They are the ones who will look bad.
Apparently I’m just not being very clear
Given the money is guaranteed, why should Zito give a rat’s ass about Suppan or what the G’s think? If he’s waived, there are plenty of teams who would take him in a nanosecond. Maybe Anaheim, close to his home. In another uniform, he’d at least be free of the salary burden.
The burden on the hitter’s is when a pitcher gives up 3-4 runs early in a game. Or when they come back to tie it and he turns around a gives up the go ahead.
I agree about defense if he’s nibbling and walking guys. Easy to lose one’s concentration out there.
Well, that’s Snarrkk’s argument. That the other players don’t like him. I have no clue.
I still don’t buy it. And football/baseball are huge in the differences that have effects on games. If you are an O lineman, say, and you don’t like yer QB, well, what happens there? Not too hard to figure out.
Baseball, at least while on offense, the batter controls what happens. Is Panda worrying, shit, Zito’s pitching, maybe I should lay off this spank-me pitch? This subconscious shit is ridiculous. If it was true, you could show it with numbers.
Fruckie bats .098 when Zoti is pitching, .421 when Timmy’s pitching, .385 when Sanchezs is pitching, on down the line.
Again, how does Cain fall into this? He had 3 years of 0 run support. Timmy got a lot more. Fucking Brett Tomko got better run support than Cain.
Okay, no need to bring Tomko into this. That’s just dirty pool
Now THAT’S funny . . .
Chuck, listen closely. I never said the other players don’t LIKE him. Never said it, don’t know whether they do or not. Most reports say that they DO like him. Whatever, that’s not the point. The theory is they don’t perform well behind him, for whatever reason — one may be the game pace, one may be a “what’s the point” offensively. Ted gets that, you don’t, apparently…
In other words, the whole point ot this is, if anyone should be exasperated about anything it’s the fact that Sabean SIGNED Zito to a fucking ludicrous contract in the 1st place.
The article is bullshit. If it did come from inside the team as a way to light a fire under Barry’s sorry ass, so be it. I don’t care either way. THEY did the deal. They have to suffer the fall out.
But to say the team tanks when he takes the mound is stretching credibility a bit.
Lets stretch credibility a bit.
I still don’t know why you all are assuming he’s an adequate #5. If he’s the same now as he was the 2nd half of last year, if that is all that’s left, he doesn’t belong on our roster. He won ONE GAME since July 16th last year. That puts him on pace to win 2 games this year. If that’s what you guys want from your #5 then lick it up, but I think that’s bullshit production……
The light a fire under his ass notion applied to Pablo, not a guy who is filthy rich and will make another 64M regardless of what happens.
Can they re-work the contract terms but keep the value the same? Release him to sign somewhere with less pressure (Pirates?) then pay him out over 10 years instead of the next 3. Didn’t Ichiro get a similar deal a few years back in an effort to control payroll but still get his perceived value?
The bums did something like that to get rid of Andruw.
So, you ignore Barry’s 7-2 start last year? Smoke and mirrors?
Look, I don’t give a fuck about the guy. They overpaid by $50 mill. That’s on Sabes. His failures down the stretch are well-known. It still follows that he is what he is. barely a .500 pitcher who’s paid too much.
Much like the backup CF making $12 mill per.
The point being, they ain;t going to toss out the baby with the bathwater. mainly because Suppan is going to do better? Uh, no.
BLEEP THAT!
It’s idiotic to think they’d shitcan him now. Say, he starts 0-6 and his ERA is 9. Yeah, cut his ass. A bad half season is reason to cut him? Not really. Not when the alternative is a 36 year old journeyman.
I love that word, “shitcan!”
If Zito continues the trend that Flav brought up, then at the very least the team will need a long relief guy. This would change the look of the bull pen and/or (hide your eyes Dennis) add a pitcher with one less position player. Unless NO Whitey can pitch long relief or Zits picks up a catchers glove (I’m kidding, no way Zito could throw someone out).
Disregard the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious contract . . . Old news. As Unca Chuck, Rough Trade, slo_rolls, and anyone else here said about him being a serviceable number 4 or 5 – that works for me.
Zito comes off looking like the idiot stepchild because we are so spoiled by our 1 through number 4 starters . . . and of course, that “elephant in the room” contract of his.
I agree that rehashing the contract is lame. That horse is dead. Plus I’ve said I could car less about it. You’re worth whatever some dumb ass will give you. The remaining salary is what seems to be all that keeps Zito with the club though so maybe extending the payout terms is a solution.
Until Oct. 2, 2010, I was probably one of the more tolerant Zito supporters in this space, for two reasons: 1) sentimental: the day I saw him play (against Philly, he won in ’09) and 2) quasi-logical: because of stretches of very decent pitching. It seemed he really wanted to win when he had the curveball working. But after that disastrous Saturday afternoon against SD, that did it. Heck, look at his record. 40-57 for us. He could go 27-0 and it would be too late too leave a positive impression. (I slightly exaggerate.) I assume he was a good sport about being benched for the postseason. Great. Fine. Wonderful. But now he is a project beyond repair. He must go. A change of scenery will be good for him and for us. Adios.
. . . and I don’t care what he is paid; it’s not my money. The reason is we gain by subtraction.
ZITS has to go money issues be damned! The Giants must pay for their mistakes and he’s a good lesson to remember going into the future. The fans are sick of him.
Bleep you you bleeping bleep . . .
Pawkie, who’s our #5?
Fuck, i’m typing in German again . . .
AND I’M NOT POSTING TOO FAST!
LQTM
Our no. 5 is Mr. TBD.
OK, how about this. If in ST it appears that Suppan, Tanner or even Vogelsong step up and are as good or better than a battered Zito, why would you still keep Zito? As BF says, since the break last season he’s sucked. In between periods of OKness and the occasional good start, since he’s been here he’s sucked. So, all things point to continued suckage as a passable #5, if not worsening to a poor #5. So, if he agrees to go elsewhere and the Giants unload even a $1 million of his contract, aren’t you better off in terms of potentially winning more games and more flexible payroll for moves down the road?…
How good has Suppan been the last 2 years? How could a few good outings in Spring Training show that he is a better option than Zito? Vogelsong is a joke and nowhere have I read that tanner is remotely ready….
Look at Zito’s stats the second half of last season… he had a bad August like everyone else, but other than that he was pretty much same old Zito…
Slo_rolls’ comment was right on….. Flav since when is wins a good stat for juding a pitcher?? Cain is still 5 games under .500….
Suppan sucked huge fat balls last year, he is a Welly 2.0…. Zito had 19 quality starts last year… Suppan might have had 19 over the last 4 years…. If we can trade him for something useful and valuable then maybe depending on how much we would have to eat of his contract. But pay him to go away and then watch a much worse pitcher in Suppan go out there every day? How in the fuck does that make any sense?
The Jenkins article makes it sound like the Giants are ready to make a move on Zito this season if they have to. Maybe he starts off the regular season 0-3, and that’s it. They release him and it’s over. It’s a colossal amount of money to eat, but the Giants have to pay it anyway. They can’t let Zito wreck their chances to get into the playoffs and make a run at another title. And I don’t think they will. They know the fans are ready to turn the page on Zito.
That page has been turned
The one positive thing I’ll say about Zito is that his fastball was a little faster last year. He hit 87 a few times on the radar gun, and that’s an improvement.
You cannot look at what Zito did in his career or even last year. You look at where he is NOW. If he’s the same pitcher from the 2nd half of last year you get rid of him. Will his replacement be better? Slim possibility, it’s clear that Suppan fixed a problem with the coaching of Duncan at the end of last year.
But maybe Suppan still sucks, it wouldn’t surprise me at all. The thing you get MOST by getting rid of Zito is the cloud that hangs over his every start. I am CONVINCED that’s one of the reasons that he get so little run support. The dude takes the mound with a “Pray to God it doesn’t explode” approach and then the fielders have to watch him pitch scared, afraid of contact. Basically, there’s just so many bad vibes every time he takes the mound I think it effects everyone on the team during one of his starts. He pitches scared and the players play tight waiting/hoping for the other shoe to fall/not fall……
Whoever replaces him won’t start off getting boo’d by the fans. If it’s Tanner he’d actually get a ton of support from the home crowd. the opposite of what they give Zito……..
Well said…
This is what I tried to say. Flav did a better job
Wow, Flappers rooting for, even wanting Zito to stay, while a published report says management is perturbed with him, and might even cut him. The juxtaposition of views from prior years is mind boggling. Has Zits been spreading some “walking around money”?…
I don’t like Suppan at all. Wellemeyer was probably better. The team would be better off looking elsewhere. One blogger has suggested that Oakland needs a 5 (McCarthy, their presumptive 5 now, has worse career numbers than Zito has earned in SF). Beane and Wolff wouldn’t pay more than 1% of Zito’s salary, but maybe they’d trade some thing.
Zito will be fine when he stops caring.
Like Bobby Rayburn.
My season is like a bad freeway accident, and you guys are just slowing down to watch.
the zito contract was absolute idiocy. dumping him now would be even dumber tho… eat 64million, and take a chance he goes somewhere else on the giants dime and helps someone beat them? all because we like suppan, after 3 ST innings, better?. zito has had decent stretches over the last 4 yrs bracketed by pure crap, but he looked much better even at the end of last year than he did in ’08 when he was topping out at 81 on his fastball. in my book he is a serviceable #5 still – if after 8 starts he is 0-6 with a 7 era, then this discussion makes sense
I thought Zito might have pitched his last game as a Giant after his last dreadful outing against San Diego. That led to him being dropped from the postseason roster. It would obviously be a momentous decision to eat his contract-the hulabaloo might reate a disraction even worse than his terrible performances. So, as always, just root for the Great Whites..
I don’t like suppan. If it were me I’d give one of the kids a shot— they’d get the most support from the fans. xoot called it perfectly: ABZ. And I would disagree I think he was at his worst at the end of last yr. During 2008 we weren’t going anywhere, his gas can starts were annoying, but they didn’t really hurt. When we finally get in a playoff chase he wilts like a flower. I think he lost 3 games in a span of 6 days in august. Thanks, zits. He was horrendous when we needed him the most. Fuck him.
Every game will count. (That counts as this year’s most inane statement so far.) Speaking of games counting, wasn’t it last year that we beat the Dodgers because Bochy was smart enough to object to Mattingly’s illegal visit to the mound? Or was that 2009? It all starts to blend in, the years, the decades, the …
Hey, we just talked about that game this week! Comcast replayed that game the other night!
so, it was, what, June-July 2010? (But not as dramatic as the later-season Saturday comeback from Uribe’s HR, the one I tuned out till the next evening)
The seasons do blur together, Paulie, but that happened last July 20th.
As I recall it was about a week after Fred Merkle’s baserunning gaffe.
I just heard a good one on the Rachel Maddow Show (apology to Dennis and other right wingers) . . . “A dozen cookies are put down in front of a CEO, a union member and a Tea Partier. The CEO takes 11. Then he says to the Tea Partier, ‘That union guy wants your’s’.”
We now return you to our regular broadcast.
The thing about Zito was is and will be, he sucked her as the #1. He sucked here as the #2. He would suck less as a 5. The main thing is who replaces him if they swallow $60 goddamn million? Suppan will be on the DL/lit up like a pinball machine by June.
Hey, maybe we can get Kevin Pucetas back . . .
Are the Ryan Sadowski and Joe Martinez auditions in 09 just a big blur?
How about eating ¾ of his contract and sending him to the Yanks for fat Joba who seems to have no role? Maybe Rags can rehabilitate him. A return to the AL and major run support could work for Zito. Yanks need SP.
With Joe Blanton as the #5 starter, I guess the Phils really do have a better starting rotation.
Man, I just watched gm 4 of NLCS this weekend; Blanton almost won that game. No telling where we’d be without Aaron Rowand’s brilliant throw and Posey’s utterly dogged and memorably sensational play at the plate. (The Fox announcers gave no credit to Aaron’s quick and accurate one-hopper to get Ruiz.) (speaking of blurs, I can’t for the life of me recall what happened w/ Lincecum-Halladay the next game.)
I see the Yanks, Cubs, or Cards as possible suitors. And Fred Merkle gets a bum rap. He really does. As I understand it, the rules were different and he simply failed to touch a base because he figured the winning run had already scored. Now it is forever Merkle’s Boner. At least he still gets a boner. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
It’s difficult to fathom what those AL East teams would do to him now, he’d have a better chance against those Great Whites…
I’d trade Zito to the Yankees in a second for Fat-Joba. I’d pay 70%, 80% of the deal, whatever. And the Yankees just might do that based on how fat Joba has gotten and how the dude has not ever met expectations. I can’t believe it, I just agreed with a Loo trade. I still think it’s 20-1 that the Yanks pull the trigger on that deal………
A.J. Burnett for Zito straight up. They can’t stand Burnett in NY. One fragile ego for another. I just went on youtube for Gm 5 NLCS. Oh. THAT game. Poor showing. Mirabile visu — that we bounced back in gm 6.
how’s this Stewart fellow (catcher) look tonight?
Just saw the new Baseball Project CD is out. Track 2 is called “Panda and the Freak”
http://www.stevewynn.net/high_and_inside.php
That first Dream Syndicate record still kicks ass.
Yeah! The Cardinals!
Wrong spelling Loo….
Cardinal……..
Bruce Jenkins didn’t pull that article out of his ass. He’s as legit as it comes. The thing I find strange is that he wrote the article at all. He’s the last guy who needs to draw attention to himself, his readers are obsessively committed to him…..
I’m inclined to believe that he got some inside info from a super legit source and felt committed to write the article. I think he might be now regretting it due to the drama that’s ensued.
Great Spring fodder though, in a Spring that’s lacked any sense of drama……
We’ll see. Jenkins has placed this stuff front and center. I don’t think he felt committed to write, but he saw some sort of opportunity. I sure as shit hope he’s not straining to keep a job. The chronicle’s shedding writers. Who knows. Just ten years ago, Jenkins would’ve been set — sports columinist for the Bay Area, respected everywhere. Lowell Cohn and Glenn Dickey would be laughable comparisons from the past. Jenkiins would have his domain. Instead, we have the new order.
This report of Zito’s surprise and the closed-door meeting with Bochy is definitely the best drama we have going. Neither the Torres nor the Cain “injuries” seem as pressing. I expect some sort of statement from the team by Saturday. Jenkins has rung the bell.
Yeah…..hopefully the Cactus League pennant race will go down to the wire.
Well, this was just reported on the AP via Sports Illustrated . . .
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/baseball/mlb/03/02/giants-zito.ap/index.html
According to Bochy, Jenkins did pull that article out of his ass. Bochy vehemently denied there was any truth to a report that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday morning suggesting left-hander Barry Zito is not assured a spot on the Giants’ roster this season. “Believe me, there has been no conversation anywhere near what the article was about,” Bochy said.
I told you there’d be a statement by Saturday.
of course he’s going to deny it. What’s he supposed to say? There is no more legit columnist at the Chronicle than Bruce jenkins. Sorry, but Bochy is floating a smoke screen……..
What’s equally mind-blowing is that the AP article says, “Bochy, who addressed the media before Wednesday night’s spring training game against an Arizona Diamondbacks split squad, said Zito remains his No. 4 starter and told him so in a meeting earlier in the day.”
Jenkins column says, “A source close to the team indicated Tuesday that there is “exasperation” with Zito, that his status as the No. 5 starter is “definitely not safe,” and that the team would even consider buying out his expensive contract before Opening Day if that’s what it takes to say farewell.”
Consequently, my question is this – Is Zito a 4 starter as Bochy says or a 5 starter per the Jenkins article? Or, is there a typo somewhere (LMAO)?
WTF, now Cain has elbow inflammation? I bet he caught that shit from NO Whitey.
We should have quarantined that worthless cocksucker.
C’mon, Chuck! The “worthless cocksucker” has a WS ring and caught a no-hitter in his first 2 seasons. Carlton Fisk did neither in a quarter of a century.
If nothing else, El Presidente is a helluva good luck charm.
or a really slick benign sort of parasite
Maybe Bochy is totally truthful that he believes there was nothing to Jenkins’ article. Ya think the sneaky insider in the Giants brass would tell Bochy that they just dumped on Zito in a “tell all” to Jenkins? Of course not. Plausible deniability. I don’t doubt for one minute that somebody high up whispered this to Jenkins, with the intent that it was going to be published. We can speculate as to why, but I’m with BF and not speculating that it actually happened. I think it’s fine. The cat is outta the bag, in the open. It’s taken 3 years for somebody inside the organization to “leak” that the insiders admit that this was a fucked up deal. We all know it was, but maybe there’s a catharsis factor in this for the organization, so that they can move on from it…
There was no insider. I told you that this morning. There was some asshole who claimed to have inside info. A “source” who is “close” to the team. Jenkins fucked up.
Zito’s situation was set in the post season. That was exasperation. It remains. That’s it.
Jenkins has always been a solid professional. I don’t believe for one second your allegation. For all you know, the mole could have been Sabean himself talking on a throw away cellphone…
You’re the one making the allegation, snarrk. Jenkins said a “source” who is “close to” the team. You’re stretching that without basis. Simple.
Xooty, “source close to the team” could certainly be directly inside the Giants organization itself. Reuters News Service in its Essentials of Reuters Sourcing provides an appropos example:
“When reporting a corporate deal, describe the source as specifically as possible. Use “a company executive/banker/lawyer close to the transaction” to convey the fact that your source is directly involved in the deal, but “a source close to the transaction” is also acceptable if the source is unwilling to be identified more specifically.”
For all we know, the loose-lipped mole could’ve been friggin’ Neukom on the inside — or all the way down to Murph. Murph probably knows and overhears more about inside shit on the team than anybody…
Meanwhile, Baggs’ article tonight dropped what I thought was an interesting nugget about Zito’s workout regimen. Here’s a quote: “Bochy said he was pleased with Zito’s conditioning as well, especially after the pitcher adjusted his offseason routine. Instead of doing the P90X home fitness videos, he focused on baseball-specific workouts that emphasized leg and core strength.”
So, in the prior offseason, the Giants by far most expensive player asset was working out under the supervision NOT of Giants staff trainers or other professionals, nor a program they specifically tailored to him, but by himself under a $150 set of workout DVDs you order from a TV infomercial at 2 am while you battle insomnia? Zito, “sweatin’ to the oldies”. I find that more than a bit absurd…